IC-NRLF 


BERKELEY 

LIBRARY 

UNIVHIWTY  Of 
CALIPOtNiA 


EARTH 
SC1FHCES 


^unttngton 
Williams 


r 


Memorial  b?  f  rienn0 
for 


1856-J894 


1896 


CONTENTS 

HIS   LIFE    IN    BRIEF 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, 

Talcott  Williams .9 

EARLY  LIFE  AND  DEVELOPMENT, 

Frederick  Welh  Williams 24 

AT  THE  UTICA  ACADEMY, 

George  C.  Sawyer 67 

LIFE  AT  AMHERST  COLLEGE, 

Benjamin  Kendall  Emerson 71 

His  WORK  AS  A  PROFESSOR, 

William  Bullock  Clark 77 

His  PUBLICATIONS, 

Joseph  Paxson  Iddings.     .         .         .         .          .         87 

BIBLIOGRAPHY n7 

A  TRIBUTE  FROM  GERMANY, 

Professor  H.  Rosenbusch.          .          .         .         .123 

A  COMMEMORATIVE  SKETCH, 

John  M.  Clarke. 134 

MINUTES  OF  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY,  .       148 


M199337 


HIS  LIFE  IN  BRIEF 

iORGE  HUNTINGTON  WILLIAMS,  eldest 
son  of  Robert  Stanton  and  Abigail  Obear 
(Doolittle)  Williams,  born  at  Utica,  New 
York,  January  28,  1856,  descended  from  Robert 
Williams  of  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  in  the  eighth 
generation.  A.  B.,  Amherst  College,  1878  ;  A.  M., 
1 88 1  ;  Ph.D.  summa  cum  laude,  Heidelberg  Uni- 
versity, 1882;  Fellow  by  courtesy  in  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  1883,  Associate,  1883,  Associate  Pro- 
fessor, 1885;  Professor  of  Inorganic  Geology,  1 892. 
Married,  September  15,  1886,  Mary  Clifton  Wood, 
daughter  of  David  Phelps  and  Lora  Celeste  (Smith) 
Wood,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Their  children  were 
Huntington  Williams,  born  September  21,  1887, 
Robert  Wood  Williams,  born  May  29,  1890,  and 
George  Huntington  Williams,  born  December  16, 
1892.  Died  July  12,  1894,  at  Utica,  New  York. 


INTRODUCTION 

TALCOTT  WILLIAMS 

HOUGH  death  rob  life,  love  remains.  Out 
of  love,  this  memorial  has  grown  of  a  dear 
life,  cut  short  untimely,  unfinished  in  all 
but  promise.  Much  as,  at  38,  George  Huntington 
Williams  had  done,  his  larger  work  lay  before.  Per- 
formance and  promise  had  grown  rich  and  ripened 
together.  Both  called  for  record.  Both  are  recorded 
here  for  those  near  by  love  and  kin,  for  those  who 
seek  the  same  science,  and  for  the  widening  circle 
of  those  who, finding  his  work,  will  ask  what  manner 
of  man  he  was  who  bore  this  fruit  of  work  done,  and 
left  with  all  near  him  faith  that  the  work  he  had 
done  was  but  the  wide  door  to  the  work  he  would 
do.  For  them,  his  life  brief  but  loved,  short  but 
full,  has  been  here  set  out  in  all  its  stages  —  the 
family  life  out  of  which  he  grew,  bough  worthy 
of  its  bloom,  his  school  and  college  days,  his  study 
abroad,  his  work  as  teacher  and  searcher,  as  pro- 
fessor and  geologist,  and  the  place  he  held  in  the 
university  of  which  he  was  a  part,  with  the  ordered 
list  of  the  works  he  published ;  all  written  by  those 
near  him,  and,  with  him,  to  be  near  was  to  love. 
9 


INTRODUCTION 

He  never  ceased  to  learn.  He  early  began  to 
teach.  It  was  his  fair  lot  to  feel  to  the  very  end  the 
growth  of  a  widening  science,  to  which  he  added 
and  from  which  he  daily  drew  new  knowledge.  For 
twenty-nine  years  I  knew  him.  1  first  saw  him  in 
1865.  I  stood  by  his  grave  in  1894.  Through  all 
these  years,  I  now  see,  since  death,  the  great  in- 
terpreter, gives  the  key,  the  same  ardor  lit  all  his 
path.  He  grew.  He  did  not  change.  The  supreme 
delight  of  acquiring  and  expanding  knowledge  was 
his  through  all  his  days.  The  life  of  science  is  dear 
to  those  who  live  it,  and  of  worth  to  those  who 
but  see  it,  because  those  who  give  their  days  to 
knowledge,  and  to  knowledge  alone,  feel  through 
all  their  years  the  thrill  of  a  view  that  each  day 
widens  and  to  which  no  day  sets  bounds.  The 
joy  of  school  is  theirs  through  all  the  work  of  life. 
The  sense  of  knowing  to  learn  and  learning  to 
know  is,  perhaps,  the  sweetest  of  earthly  things. 
When  a  man  feeds  on  this  joy  for  years,  in  the 
high  places  of  science,  there  comes  inevitably  into 
his  face  that  keen  look  of  assured  knowledge  and 
stable  learning,  bright  as  the  cloudless  sky,  which 
we  are  beginning  to  recognize  in  the  greater  men 
of  science ;  and  with  this  look  his  years  and  his 
work  were  gracing  a  face  which,  to  me  at  least, 
approached  continually  nearer  and  nearer  to  that 
sense  of  assured  knowledge  which  is  power,  and 
growing  power  which  is  insight,  and  insight  which 
is  the  herald  and  promise  of  immortal  discovery. 
10 


INTRODUCTION 

But  whether  this  was  to  be  his  lot  or  not  was 
a  little  thing  to  him  by  the  side  of  the  daily 
ardor  which  burnt  like  a  flame  through  all  his 
life,  and  which  all  his  life  fed.  His  serene  joy  in 
enlarging  knowledge  is  the  common  lot  of  all 
who  seek  science  in  sincerity.  Her  visible  gains 
are  but  few.  This  she  pours  in  a  flood  to  all  who 
seek  her  and  follow  her  truth.  But  while  others 
labor  to  enter  into  their  joy  and  pay  with  a  great 
price  for  its  freedom,  he  was  free-born.  His  mind 
opened  the  problem  to  which  it  was  addressed,  as 
the  key  the  lock.  All  who  knew  his  work  knew 
that  it  was  to  him  the  gladness  of  life,  dear  beyond 
pleasure  and  more  lovely  than  all  the  delights  of 
men.  But  even  with  this,  there  are  for  most  wrench 
and  strife  before  they  gain  the  work  of  their  choice 
and  the  work  for  which  they  are  chosen  among 
men.  Most  of  all  is  this  true  of  pure  science,  which 
is  a  vocation  rare  in  its  inspiration  and  rarer  still 
in  the  free  opportunity  to  heed  it.  The  open  pref- 
erences of  life  are  for  the  recognized  callings,  and 
most  parents  are  swayed  by  these  preferences. 
Few  men  begin  with  the  scientific  impulse,  which 
is  but  an  appetite  for  exact  knowledge  and  a  de- 
sire to  record  the  same.  Instead,  the  impulse  de- 
velops by  degrees  and  dawns  with  development. 
Fewer  men  still  find  those  about  them  in  their 
earliest  years  anxious  to  aid  this  impulse  and  foster 
it.  The  smooth  charm  of  his  life  was  that  its 
stream  ran  without  a  ripple.  In  the  even  current 
ii 


INTRODUCTION 

of  his  days,  bank  and  stream  seemed  made  for 
one  another. 

He  was  a  boy  of  ten  when,  in  the  winter  of 
1865-66,  I  saw  him  for  some  weeks  together. 
Books  were  already  his  care.  He  had  begun  the 
careful  record  of  all  that  interested  him  which  was 
to  mark  his  life.  He  had  the  unrivaled  advantage 
of  living  in  the  atmosphere  and  feeling  the  influence 
of  a  library  which  expanded  with  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  family  in  which  it  grew,  and  whose 
members  fed  upon  its  growth.  In  this  bookish 
perspective,  ever  widening  and  ever  responding  to 
his  needs,  in  gracious  surroundings  which  bespoke 
wide  family  relations,  which  made  distant  lands 
near  and  the  life  and  work  of  other  peoples  a  part 
of  the  daily  environment  of  his  own  life  and  work, 
there  was  a  singular  and  explicit  preparation  and 
provision  of  the  breadth  of  view  which  made  his 
least  publication  relative,  and  to  the  end  saved  a 
man  devoted  to  a  specialty  from  ever  being,  in  the 
narrower  sense  of  the  word,  a  specialist.  All  un- 
knowing, the  fine  and  gentle  texture  of  his  mind 
took  its  first  form  and  received  its  earliest  bent 
under  an  unconscious  training  which  made  the 
boy  of  ten  feel  the  world  without  as  well  as  within 
books,  and  later  prevented  the  man  from  ever  for- 
getting the  one  in  science  or  being  lost  to  true 
science  in  the  other. 

While  I  saw  him  from  time  to  time,  five  years 
passed  before,  in  the  winter  of  1870-71,  we  were 
12 


INTRODUCTION 

once  more  for  weeks  together.  His  mind,  receptive 
before,  had  now  taken  the  bent  of  research  and  in- 
quiry. He  had  made  a  very  considerable  progress 
in  the  Williams  Genealogy,  which  he  published  at 
an  age  when  few  men  have  associated  their  names 
with  a  title-page  which  stands  for  so  much  pa- 
tient and  accurate  research.  Heraldry  is  as  near  to 
useless  learning  as  any  existing  ;  but  in  his  training 
nothing  was  useless.  Thanks  to  the  parental 
diligence,  which  spared  no  aid  in  books  where  there 
was  a  wish  to  read,  he  had  carried  a  knowledge 
already  begun  in  its  rudiments  five  years  before 
farther  than  do  most  amateurs.  Out  of  his  inter- 
est in  coat-armor,  he  developed  for  himself,  with 
little  training  but  an  infinite  patience,  a  gift  in  il- 
lumination which  was  schooling  hand  and  eye  to 
the  firm  outlines,  the  accurate  draughtsmanship 
and  the  trained  color  sense  which  distinguished 
his  scientific  drawings  in  years  more  mature.  So 
completely  had  the  side  of  life  ruled  by  pencil  and 
brush  won  him,  that  all  his  outlook  and  ambition 
were  towards  some  of  the  callings  given  to  applied 
art.  For  the  next  six  or  eight  years  his  reading 
ran  to  architecture  and  kindred  subjects.  He  was 
called  from  the  too  early  devotion  to  the  scientific 
problem  which  narrows  men  who  enter  its  strait 
and  narrow  path  before  they  have  learned  how 
broad  life  is,  and  how  much  goes  to  make  up  its 
work  outside  of  science. 

He  entered  college  equipped  as  well  as  fitted. 

13 


INTRODUCTION 

He  was  still  fortunately  young.  Young  he  was  to 
the  end.  Young  he  would  have  been  had  long 
years  been  his.  He  had  ever  the  golden  gift 
of  that  re-creating  ardor  which  made  him  always 
younger  than  the  last  new  fact  he  was  about  to 
lay  bare.  In  his  laboratory  he  found  always  the 
gift  of  perpetual  youth  in  perpetual  research.  But 
in  1874,  when  I  saw  him  just  entering  college  and 
yearned  over  him  with  the  love  and  fond  hope 
which,  I  verily  believe,  he  awoke  for  all  the  years 
of  his  tutelage  in  every  older  man  who  saw  him  — 
as  succeeding  pages  abundantly  bear  witness  — 
he  had  every  charm.  Ardent,  full  of  enthusiasm, 
singularly  facile  in  all  social  relations,  carrying  the 
blameless  life  which  is  the  precious  fruit  of  our 
wholesome  American  atmosphere,  apt  to  learn, 
able  to  teach,  responding  to  all  the  responsibilities 
of  college  and  appreciating  to  the  full  all  its  priv- 
ileges, of  the  many  I  have  seen  enter  college 
there  has  been  none  from  whom  one  hoped  more, 
and  none  who  filled  fuller  the  measure  of  hope. 

To  his  junior  year  his  course  ran  eventless.  He 
grew  and  expanded.  He  was  loved.  Term  by 
term  I  heard  of  his  advance,  of  the  place  he  held, 
the  influence  he  wielded,  the  progress  he  made 
and  the  broad  swath  he  was  cutting  through  the 
studies  of  the  class-room  and  the  affection  of  his 
classmates.  His  first  touch  of  science  in  chem- 
istry visibly  moved  him ;  but  in  the  first  two 
years  of  the  Amherst  course  of  twenty  years  ago 
14 


INTRODUCTION 

there  was  little  likely  to  arouse  a  mind  whose 
major  response  was  neither  to  the  letters  of  the 
past  nor  to  the  literature  of  the  present.  To  both 
of  these  he  gave  the  faithful  attention  of  the  stu- 
dent, but  from  them  he  received  training  rather 
than  inspiration.  It  was  not  until  his  third  year 
that  he  found  in  geology  his  intellectual  conver- 
sion, the  sudden  turning  together  of  all  energy, 
faculty,  and  ability  into  the  chosen  channel  of  his 
life.  His  instructor  in  geology,  Professor  Benja- 
min Kendall  Emerson,  whose  sketch  of  his  pupil 
succeeds,  has  the  gift  of  communication — the 
power  which  enables  a  teacher  to  impart  not  only 
his  learning,  but  his  enthusiasm.  His  teaching, 
flooded  over  the  sensitive  plate  of  the  pupil's  mind, 
unerringly  develops  the  geologist  in  the  one  or 
two  in  each  successive  class  who,  having  uncon- 
sciously elected  Professor  Emerson's  course  in  ge- 
ology, find  that  they  have  made  sure  their  calling 
and  relation  for  life.  From  the  start,  far  earlier 
than  my  cousin,  I  knew  that  my  old  professor  felt 
that  among  the  many  for  whom  he  had  stood 
sponsor  in  his  science  there  was  none  who  so 
awoke  his  love  or  his  prophecy,  who  was  dearer 
to  him  as  a  pupil,  or  in  whom  he  felt  a  higher 
pride  as  a  professor.  However  numerous  may  be 
a  professor's  pupils,  it  cannot  often  occur  that  there 
passes  through  his  hands  a  student  of  winning 
manners,  of  social  aptitude,  of  a  broad  background 
of  cultivation,  of  high  intellectual  powers,  of  un- 
15 


INTRODUCTION 

wearied  industry,  and  of  those  special  trained  gifts 
of  eye  and  hand  which  are,  if  not  indispensable  to 
the  geologist,  of  incalculable  advantage  in  facilitat- 
ing and  rendering  accurate,  pleasing,  and  instruc- 
tive the  record  of  his  research  and  discovery. 

His  college  work  in  geology  was  succeeded  by  a 
resident  year  under  Professor  Emerson's  personal 
direction,  devoted  principally  to  field-work.  The 
substantive  results  of  this  year  were  not  great,  but 
again  fortune  favored  his  preparation  for  life.  Most 
men  begin  their  post-graduate  study  in  geology, 
given  almost  altogether  to  lectures  and  the  labora- 
tory, with  little  practical  acquaintance  with  the 
fashion  in  which  their  problems  present  themselves 
in  the  open  field  of  nature.  In  his  professional 
life,  given  to  a  specialty  in  which  the  microscope 
is  the  chief  and,  to  some  specialists,  almost  the 
exclusive  instrument  of  research,  both  his  ob- 
servation and  his  conclusions  were  balanced  and 
directed  by  the  circumstance  that  a  most  unusual 
share  of  his  preparation  had  been  given  to  the  field. 
To  the  end  he  remained  a  man  untiring  in  his  de- 
votion to  investigation  upon  the  ground,  to  the  at- 
tack and  mastery  of  geological  problems  in  the  first 
and  most  obscure  shape  in  which  they  can  present 
themselves,  not  in  the  laboratory,  but  in  nature. 
Nor  was  it  the  least  result  of  both  the  tradition  and 
training  of  geology  in  Amherst  College  that,  more 
than  most  men  of  the  new  school,  he  laid  the  ter- 
ritory about  the  university  in  which  he  did  his 
16 


INTRODUCTION 

work  under  immediate  and  illustrative  tribute, 
both  in  its  geological  and  topographical  treatment, 
a  use  which  his  personal  tact  made  of  value  to  the 
city  in  which  his  work  lay,  as  well  as  to  the  classes 
over  which  he  presided.  At  the  end, —  alas,  the 
end, —  of  his  professional  labors,  when  I  last  saw 
him,  his  eye  still  bright  with  all  the  future  and  rich 
with  all  the  past  of  his  work,  he  attributed  what 
he  modestly  deemed  his  most  important  original 
achievement  thus  far,  his  identification  of  the  early 
volcanic  areas  in  the  South  Mountain,  to  his  train- 
ing in  field  work  as  well  as  in  the  laboratory  re- 
search of  the  petrographer. 

It  was  not  by  accident  —  the  frequent  contact 
of  two  busy  men  enamored  of  their  work  is  never 
quite  that — that  I  saw  him  for  a  season  before  he 
went  to  Europe  in  1879,  and  again  on  his  return 
in  1882.  Within  the  natural  limits  of  the  stage 
and  season  he  had  now  reached,  he  went,  all  an- 
ticipation ;  he  came  back,  all  achievement.  The 
boy  whom  I  saw  in  Washington  in  1879  was  ^u^ 
of  charm,  whose  manifold  attraction  for  others  of 
all  ages  and  attainments  I  then  first  witnessed, 
but  neither  ambition  nor  aspiration  was  defined. 
He  had  so  grown.  The  balance  of  him  was  so 
just,  so  true,  and  so  visible,  he  was  so  well  in 
hand  and  his  mind  was  so  well  trained  and 
equipped  that  I  felt  he  might  walk  anywhere,  but 
whither,  neither  he  nor  I  knew.  Emerson  has 
somewhere  said  that  to  youthful  address  all  doors 
3  17 


INTRODUCTION 

open,  and  I  remember  as  I  left  him,  after  his  brief 
stay,  I  thought  of  the  saying,  and  felt  that  the  five 
or  ten  years  which  most  men  expend  in  the  busi- 
ness of  becoming  known  would  for  him  be  abridged 
to  a  span  by  his  ready  address,  as  they  were.  If 
all  paths  seemed  open  to  him  when  he  left  to  go 
abroad,  when  he  came  back  the  one  path  in  which 
he  had  set  his  feet  seemed  one  long  opening.  He 
had,  when  he  returned,  ripened  with  a  sense  of 
definite  scholastic  achievement,  though  he  felt  the 
panic  which  besets  many  men  on  the  threshold 
when  they  know  that  they  have  with  infinite  pa- 
tience forged  a  key  to  fit  one  lock  and  only  one  ; 
but,  as  always  happens  to  a  man  who  fits  himself 
thoroughly,  completely,  and  without  exception  for 
some  one  place,  that  one  place  found  him,  sought 
him,  and,  as  he  wrote  in  one  of  the  glad  outbursts 
which  sounded  from  time  to  time  on  the  tense 
thread  of  a  life  on  which  so  much  was  strung,  if 
he  had  been  asked  to  prepare  a  place  for  himself, 
he  could  not  have  devised  one  more  fitted  for  the 
precise  work  he  wished  to  do  and  the  field  he  longed 
to  fill  than  the  one  offered  to  him  without  asking, 
because  he  alone  had  fitted  himself  so  as  to  have 
the  right  of  the  worthiest  to  seek  it. 

Of  his  professional  and  scientific  labors  in  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  where  he  passed  twelve  fruit- 
ful and  happy  years,  men  better  trained  and  more 
competent  speak  in  the  pages  which  follow.  Alike 
in  his  science  and  in  the  university  he  was  but 
it 


INTRODUCTION 

one  of  many  whose  general  devotion  he  shared, 
and  who  like  him  brought  to  their  several  prob- 
lems that  mingling  of  personal  ardor  and  imper- 
sonal enthusiasm,  that  love  of  learning  for  its 
own  sake,  and  longing  for  discovery  for  his  own, 
which  marks  the  best  type  of  the  men  of  re- 
search to-day.  In  the  fond  partiality  of  a  kinsman 
and  the  dear  desire  of  a  friend,  I  have  no  wish  in 
this  brief  sketch  to  do  more  than  set  his  life  in 
some  of  its  wider  relations,  and  emphasize  not  less 
the  things  he  shared  with  others  than  those  which 
a  thrice  happy  fortune  and  a  gracious  parentage 
and  providence  had  given  him  as  an  unique  and 
incommunicable  possession. 

Much  that  was  best  in  his  life  was  but  part  of 
the  privilege  and  freedom  enjoyed  by  the  modern 
priesthood  of  science,  in  which  he  had  won  his 
place.  The  scientific  investigator  of  to-day  is  no 
longer  isolated  from  active  life,  no  longer  a  closet 
worker,  no  longer  a  man  immersed  in  knowledge 
and  apart  from  other  men.  The  entire  fabric  and 
framework  of  society  is  under  tribute  to  him,  and 
he  enjoys  the  estimable  privilege  of  sharing  the 
labors  and  feeling  the  contact  of  a  guild  of  work- 
ers whose  boundaries  are  not  those  of  nations  but 
of  knowledge.  Through  the  twelve  years  in 
which  he  labored  in  his  chosen  province  —  years 
which,  properly  considered,  had  brought  him  only 
to  the  threshhold  of  the  true  work  before  him  in 
the  final  determination  of  the  character  of  conti- 

19 


INTRODUCTION 

nental  origin  —  he  had  for  his  horizon  the  world- 
field  of  petrography.  The  laboratory  work  of  the 
winter  was  succeeded  by  the  excursions  of  the 
summer.  A  bulky  monograph  recorded  his  work 
in  the  Lake  Superior  region,  a  rapid  excursion  gave 
him  a  view  of  the  broader  conditions  of  the  geology 
of  the  continent,  associated  problems  in  northern 
Europe  required  several  personal  visits,  and  the 
perplexing  and  hitherto  unsolved  problems  of  the 
continental  rim,  to  which  he  was  devoting  his 
life-work,  were  the  subject  of  repeated  trips  from 
end  to  end,  of  incessant  field  investigation,  and 
of  a  score  or  more  of  associated  papers.  All  this 
of  travel,  of  contact,  of  acquaintance,  and  of  study 
in  the  field,  in  the  library,  and  in  the  laboratory, 
while  he  was  organizing  a  university  department 
of  geology,  carrying  on  a  teacher's  toil,  and  at 
Washington,  at  Annapolis,  and  at  Baltimore  com- 
ing in  close  touch  with  geology  where  it  affected 
national,  state,  and  civic  development. 

Laboring  not  far  from  him,  I  heard  through  every 
year  of  his  work  from  himself,  from  others,  and, 
as  time  wore  on  and  his  horizon  extended,  from 
the  wider  echoes  of  the  scientific  world.  He  pub- 
lished indefatigably,  as  his  bibliography  abundantly 
shows.  His  pupils  passed  rapidly  from  his  hands 
to  the  foremost  places  in  the  calling  where  he  so 
easily  led.  To  scientific  power  he  added  admin- 
istrative ability,  and  his  department  grew  symmet- 
rically and  logically  under  his  hands.  It  was  but 

20 


INTRODUCTION 

a  few  weeks  before  death  silenced  all  his  requests 
in  its  behalf  that  a  trustee  of  the  University  told 
me  that  he  had  never  made  a  request  which  had 
been  denied.  The  broad  and  symmetrical  training 
which  I  have  already  but  haltingly  described,  which 
began  in  the  home  in  which  he  was  born  and  con- 
tinued in  the  home  of  which  he  was  the  head, 
gave  to  his  platform  utterances  a  grace  and  force 
denied  to  all  but  those  who  wed  sympathy  to 
science  and  bring  something  more  to  their  lectures 
than  their  learning.  He  came  in  his  own  person, 
and  through  a  happy  union  which  reinforced  all 
his  own  endeavor  with  aid  and  association  supple- 
menting and  enriching  his  own  high  social  powers, 
to  stand  as  that  rare  type,  a  man  whom  learning 
has  not  spoiled  for  life  and  whose  life  enriches  his 
learning.  This  happy  harmony  between  the  main 
aim  of  a  life  and  its  setting  was  his  in  part  from 
his  own  powers,  aptitude,  and  training ;  but  its 
perfect  adaptation  had  its  root  in  mutual  interest 
and  a  mutual  love,  which  infinitely  dignify  a  home 
by  making  it,  not  the  retreat  of  a  weary  man,  but 
the  scene  of  his  best  work  and  the  source  of  daily 
inspiration,  aid,  sympathy,  and  support.  In  the 
closely-woven  texture  of  his  life  no  seam  opened 
between  his  hours  in  his  laboratory  and  his  hours 
in  his  home.  The  personal  and  social  influence 
which  every  true  teacher  longs  to  exert  and  im- 
press on  the  whole  man  of  his  pupil  was  easily 
possible  to  him  when  his  classes  were  equally  at 
21 


INTRODUCTION 

home  in  his  class-room  and  his  house.  To  the 
latter  nothing  in  his  work  was  alien,  and  he  went 
to  his  class-room  and  laboratory  rich  in  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  had  given  his  whole  life  to  sci- 
ence, and  found  another  to  share  every  sacrifice, 
and  by  personal  charm  and  patient  attention  to  en- 
rich life  for  him  with  wide  social  relations  which 
sometimes  ensnare,  but  which  for  him  only  illu- 
minated labors  of  administration  and  routine. 
Dowered  with  so  much  else,  there  came  to  him 
the  dear  delights  of  fatherhood  and  the  daily  joy 
of  children.  On  all  sides  and  in  all  channels  his 
life  spread  and  flowed  in  streams  unbroken  and 
unruffled,  until  the  rounded  training  of  his  youth 
seemed  in  whole  and  in  part  to  sphere  itself  in 
the  rounded  activities  of  maturity,  with  no  im- 
pulse thwarted,  no  power  unused,  and  no  bliss 
untasted. 

These  and  his  growing  distinction  and  widen- 
ing reputation  were  the  just  pride  of  those  to 
whom  he  was  dear  ;  but  dear  as  these  are,  it  is  not 
of  these,  but  of  him,  I  love  most  to  think,  now 
that  he  is  gone.  I  seem  rather  to  see  as  the  cen- 
tral light  of  his  life  that  serene  joy  in  enlarging 
knowledge  which  never  failed,  and  never  lit  any 
path  but  that  of  pure  science.  Early  he  told  me 
he  had  declined,  and  to  the  end  would  decline, 
any  commercial  inquiry  or  investigation.  And 
with  this  serene  joy  with  which  his  face  shone  — 
as  the  years  went  on,  it  became  less  the  ruling 
22 


INTRODUCTION 

passion  of  life  than  his  very  life  itself — was  his 
devotion  to  the  simple  and  exact  truth,  his 
yearning  desire  to  add  to  it,  his  sense  of  its  maj- 
esty, his  comprehension  of  the  central  fact  that  so 
long  as  truth  was  unshrinkingly  followed  all  the 
outer  development  which  he  had  once  sought  in 
poetry  and  in  letters  would  be  added  unto  the 
man  who  did  his  entire  and  complete  duty  by 
the  kingdom  of  nature.  As  I  saw  this  concep- 
tion gather  and  grow  and  take  force,  steadying 
his  ambition,  directing  his  efforts,  preserving  the 
lofty  integrity  of  his  soul  and  winging  it  on  to 
flights  higher  and  higher,  I  looked  to  see  in 
those  rich  years  which  lay  before  him  some  great 
conquest  of  science  which  would  write  his  name 
with  the  few  whose  memory  is  not  buried  in  the 
vast  pile  of  increasing  knowledge,  but  whose  fame 
gilds  the  high  and  unapproachable  peaks  of  dis- 
covery. It  was  not  to  be.  He  is  gone. 

The  unfinished  window  in  Aladdin's  palace 
unfinished  must  remain. 


EARLY  LIFE   AND    DEVELOPMENT 

FREDERICK  WELLS  WILLIAMS 

the  first  chapter  of  an  "  Autobiography," 
dated  December,  1867,  the  juvenile  au- 
thor informs  us  that  he  was  "born  on 
the  28th  of  January  1856  at  eleven  o'clock  mon- 
day  morning,"  and,  after  a  few  details  as  to  his 
parents,  adds  that  this  event  occurred  at  "No.  48 
Broad  Street  in  a  large  house.  After  I  had  lived 
there  about  a  year  my  Father  removed  to  board  at 
the  National  Hotel  kept  by  Mrs.  Green  in  April 
1857  in  the  summer  my  mother  and  I  went  to 
the  seashore  and  stayed  untill  September.  I  was 
named  after  my  step-uncle  George  Huntington 
Williams.  He  died  when  he  was  about  nineteen 
years  old  in  1855  one  year  before  I  was  born. 
When  I  was  about  five  years  old  I  could  recite  to 
memory  A  Visit  from  Saint  Nnicholas  with  out 
a  mistake."  The  removal  of  the  family  in  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  to  Hopper  Street  marks  a  period  of  so- 
cial readjustment  in  Utica,  when  the  old  streets  of 
the  lower  town  were  gradually  deserted  for  those 
on  the  heights  near  upper  Genesee  Street.  The 
change  was  in  every  way  a  happy  one  for  the  three 
24 


EARLY  LIFE   AND    DEVELOPMENT 

little  children  who  now  made  up  the  family,  afford- 
ing them  a  more  convenient  house  as  well  as  a 
larger  playground  ;  and  about  this  house,  though 
now  much  altered  and  enlarged,  cluster  to-day  the 
associations  not  only  of  those  who  have  grown  up 
in  it,  but  of  the  wider  family  group  to  whom  it  has 
served  for  the  space  of  a  generation  as  a  common 
focus  and  center. 

It  may  seem  to  others  a  trivial  affair,  but  I  can 
not  refrain  from  quoting  the  fourth  chapter  of  this 
precious  page  of  childhood,  entitled,  "My  First 
Dog,"  revealing,  as  it  does,  the  boy's  early  sense 
of  fitness  and  friendship  in  his  regret  at  the  loss  of 
a  likely  companion.  "  About  a  year  before  we 
moved  on  Hopper  St.  (the  account  runs),  father 
got  me  a  little  tanterria  dog  We  named  him 
Floy  I  had  a  nice  little  collar  for  him  with  my 
name  engraved  upon  it.  I  had  him  in  the  street 
and  a  man  offered  me  four  dollars  for  him  I  said 
I  would  not  do  it  and  the  next  day  father  gave  him 
a  way  about  two  weeks  after  I  got  him."  Possi- 
bly his  brief  ownership  of  this  dog  and  of  another 
described  in  the  concluding  chapter  of  the  autobi- 
ography may  explain  the  incident  recounted  in 
Chapter  III.  of  a  "Life  of  Washington/'  written 
during  the  same  year.  I  copy  this  interesting  frag- 
ment, as  I  do  the  others,  with  no  attempt  to 
restrain  the  author's  freedom  in  the  matter  of  or- 
thography: "In  January  1759  Washington  was 
maried  to  Mrs.  Marther  Custis,  a  widdow  with 
4  25 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

two  chirldren,  and  went  to  live  with  her  on  the 
estate  at  mount  Vernon.  Washington  was  very 
fond  of  hunting,  he  had  a  large  number  of  dog's 
kept  for  this  purtoose  in  kennels.  If  there  were 
anny  strif  among  the  dogs,  the  men  who  took  care 
of  them  would  ring  a  bell  and  then  they  were 
quiet  for  they  knew  if  they  were  not  the  whip 
would  follow." 

Another  indication  of  literary  activity  that 
marked  his  eleventh  year  is  referred  to  in  the 
first  letter  I  ever  received  from  him,  beginning 
with  a  boy's  off-hand  frankness :  "I  never  saw 
you  but  want  to  get  acquainted  with  you  and  as 
you  are  away  off  in  China  I  thought  that  best  way 
to  do  it  would  be  to  write  you  a  letter,  and  if 
you  answer,  as  I  hope  you  will  I  want  you  to  tell 
me  what  the  little  boys  play  in  China.  Father 
showed  me,"  he  continues  in  this  tiny  epistle, 
which  initiated  our  life-long  correspondence,  "a 
journal  that  your  Father  kept  when  he  was  about 
my  age,  and  I  thought  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan 
to  keep  one  to.  I  have  used  a  Diary  that  I  got  for 
Christmas  and  write  a  little  every  day."  The  diary 
not  unlikely  passed  to  the  limbo  to  which  our  good 
resolutions  at  all  times  are  apt  to  depart,  but  its 
mention  here  shows  a  trait  that  was  already  strong 
within  him.  This  mental  alertness  was  doubtless 
intensified  by  his  rather  delicate  health,  the  result,  it 
was  then  thought,  of  a  serious  trouble  with  his  right 
knee,  which  necessitated  treatment  when  he  was 
26 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

four  years  old  in  Dr.  Mann's  celebrated  institution  in 
New  York.  It  was  many  years,  indeed,  before  he 
was  able  to  use  the  leg  with  entire  confidence,  and 
the  energies  that  in  other  children  escape  by  normal 
sports  and  exercise,  found  expression  in  his  case  in 
eager  and  active  intellectual  pursuits.  But  what- 
ever his  deprivations  in  this  respect,  the  golden 
gift  of  a  sunny  disposition  was  his  from  earliest  in- 
fancy. No  memories  of  fretfulness  or  disappoint- 
ment are  to  be  found  in  these  first  bright  years  of 
life.  The  bountiful  suggestions  of  a  quick  and 
precocious  brain  developed  by  the  wholesome  in- 
fluences of  home  were  always  enough  to  chase 
away  the  ennui  that  besets  many  children,  and 
whether  studying  the  block-alphabet  or  fighting 
Indians  made  of  bits  of  colored  cloth  and  a  bunch 
of  turkey-feathers,  the  boy  was  sure  to  be  busy 
and  happy  wherever  found. 

At  the  age  of  four  or  five  the  scope  of  his  enjoy- 
ment was  infinitely  expanded  by  learning  to  read, 
and  after  this  it  was  only  necessary  to  suggest  an 
interesting  book  to  render  him  perfectly  contented. 
If  anything  seemed  better  to  him  than  reading  it 
was,  perhaps,  the  rare  joy  of  expounding  his 
newly  acquired  information  to  the  other  children, 
or  improvising  some  dramatic  representation  of 
the  subject.  Sometimes  this  desire  to  develop  in 
a  realistic  fashion  what  he  had  read  or  heard  re- 
sulted in  very  clever  toys.  By  means  of  his  scis- 
sors and  cardboard  he  cut  out  a  small  army  of 
27 


EARLY   LIFE  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

soldiers,  fastened  upright  upon  firm  bases  and  ap- 
propriately colored,  to  which  were  gradually  added 
a  camp  equipage,  tents,  wagons,  horses,  and  the 
rest,  all  highly  satisfactory  to  his  keen  instinct  for 
order  and  form.  On  the  death  of  a  little  sister  he 
made  a  drawing  of  her  baby  shoes  for  his  mother, 
a  touching  instance  of  a  sensibility  that  he  seldom 
allowed  others  to  witness,  but  which  was  a  very 
real  part  of  his  nature.  A  few  years  later,  when 
he  was  thirteen,  he  had  so  improved  his  talent  for 
drawing  and  coloring  as  to  be  able  to  decorate 
note-paper  with  crests  and  monograms,  and  with 
the  money  earned  in  this  way  he  bought  a  silver 
watch  —  perhaps  the  proudest  achievement  of  his 
life. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  lad's  avidity  in  reading,  and 
its  mention  recalls  the  admirable  library  collected 
by  his  father,  largely  with  reference  to  the  needs 
and  interests  of  a  group  of  growing  children.  With- 
out the  stimulus  of  this  copious  and  ever-increas- 
ing store  it  is  hard  to  imagine  that  this  eager  mind 
could  have  developed  quite  so  broadly  and  fully. 
Not  only  was  there  always  plenty  to  read,  but  the 
reading  was  sure  to  be  of  the  right  sort.  The 
single  condition  exacted  was  that  a  book  once  be- 
gun must  be  finished  before  another  could  be  com- 
menced ;  and  often  indeed  a  new  volume  brought 
both  father  and  son  into  that  closer  intimacy  which 
springs  from  a  common  study,  ripening  the 
younger  by  contact  with  the  maturer  mind.  The 
28 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

library  thus  formed  was  in  no  sense  a  specialist's 
collection,  but  an  assortment  of  works  on  subjects 
of  such  general  interest  as  to  tempt  any  child's 
attention,  and  excite  by  their  presence  about  him 
an  appetite  for  sound  culture.  In  the  case  of  an 
unusually  strenuous  boy  like  George  the  predilec- 
tion needed  no  quickening,  but  there  was  danger 
lest  harm  might  come  from  the  very  eagerness 
of  his  desire  and  the  catholicity  of  his  taste.  He 
learned,  however,  to  read  thoroughly  rather  than 
too  widely,  and  a  book  once  enjoyed  was  apt  to 
be  read  again  and  again.  It  is  told  of  him  in  his 
eighth  year  that,  having  completed  Bulfmch's  "  The 
Age  of  Fable,"  he  immediately  began  it  once 
more.  At  finishing  it  a  second  time  he  was  heard 
to  declare  that,  being  the  best  book  he  had  ever 
read,  he  did  n't  see  how  he  could  do  better  than 
read  it  a  third  time,  which  he  promptly  did. 

We  have  seen  something  of  his  assiduity  in 
writing  from  excerpts  made  from  a  first  volume  of 
his  "  Works"  indited  in  an  old  bank-book  at  the 
age  of  eleven.  About  this  time  he  became  inter- 
ested in  tracing  out  certain  of  his  family  relation- 
ships, and  begging  a  suitable  blank-book  as  the 
present  most  earnestly  desired  at  Christmas,  he 
forthwith  began  writing  a  somewhat  detailed 
genealogy  upon  a  system  of  his  own.  This  per- 
formance is  chiefly  remarkable  because  of  the  rare- 
ness of  a  child's  interest  in  this  kind  of  investigation. 
His  zest  in  this  instance  never  failed  him,  and  the 
29 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

study  of  his  family  history  was  an  engrossing  ob- 
ject of  attention  through  his  life.  The  blank-book 
begun  in  1868  was  printed  in  the  "  New  England 
Genealogical  and  Historical  Register/'  and  after- 
ward published  in  pamphlet  form  in  1879.  His 
investigations  in  genealogy  naturally  brought  him 
to  an  examination  of  the  subject  of  heraldry,  upon 
which  by  the  end  of  his  fourteenth  year  he  had 
studied  up  all  the  works  he  could  procure,  thus 
rendering  himself  a  local  authority  in  this  obscure 
topic,  and  the  object  of  amused  and  delighted  com- 
ment among  his  father's  friends. 

Other  interests  which  absorbed  his  boyish  at- 
tention in  those  days  were  a  collection  of  auto- 
graphs and  a  postage-stamp  album,  both  carried 
on  for  many  years  with  an  ardor  that  indicates  his 
inheritance  in  a  family  notable  for  its  acquisitive- 
ness in  things  of  purely  intellectual  concern.  In 
general  it  might  be  truly  said  of  his  formative 
period  that  nothing  came  amiss  to  this  omnivorous 
little  collector,  whose  bedroom  might  soon  have 
become  a  congestion  of  undetermined  miscellany 
had  it  not  been  for  his  instinctive  orderliness,  which 
kept  them  all  arranged  with  scrupulous  care.  As 
an  inkling  of  his  later  taste  the  following  passage 
from  a  letter  of  November,  1868,  is  suggestive: 
"  I  am  getting  together  a  cabinet  now  in  which  I 
have  got  the  minerals  Uncle  George  had  in  his 
cabinet,  a  slab  from  Ninevah  that  Uncle  Fred  sent 
etc.  Last  Saturday  Willie  Abbott  and  1  went  up 

30 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

to  Sulphur  Springs  to  dig  for  tralobites.  I  got 
some  heads  and  an  Athosorus  we  took  with  us 
two  hammers  and  a  small  crowbar."  This  is  the 
only  reference  to  a  cabinet  which  kept  its  place  in 
his  room  until  the  removal  to  college,  but  which 
was  not  regarded  at  that  time  with  greater  curios- 
ity or  sympathy  than  his  other  hobbies. 

His  schooling  began  at  the  age  of  nine  in  the 
public  schools  of  Utica,  where  he  continued  until 
he  was  fitted  for  college.  He  brought  to  his 
classes  the  same  enthusiastic  interest  which  he 
showed  in  everything  he  did,  and  it  will  be  readily 
inferred  that  he  stood  easily  first  in  his  division. 
When  in  the  Advanced  School  the  institution  was 
visited  by  the  inventor  of  an  "  Art  to  Remember 
Dates,"  who  selected  George  as  a  likely  subject  to 
acquire  his  method  and  exemplify  it  in  public.  The 
boy  cheerfully  lent  himself  to  the  experiment,  and 
showed  off  so  well  as  to  astonish  the  listeners  and 
gain  some  credit  for  the  system.  But  when  the 
school  principal,  Mr.  Harrington,  was  afterward 
asked  by  an  anxious  parent  whether  her  son 
should  be  instructed  by  the  new  method,  she  was 
told  that  George  Williams'  exhibition  was  no  proof 
whatever  of  its  merit,  as  all  the  school  knew  he 
could  have  answered  any  of  the  questions  put  to 
him,  method  or  no  method.  Doubtless  the  prin- 
cipal was  right  in  this  instance,  for  1  never  heard 
George  allude  to  any  mind-saving  contrivance  for 
capturing  and  retaining  dates.  The  incident  is 
31 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

suggestive  because  it  shows  the  reputation  which 
he  had  acquired  among  teachers  and  schoolmates 
as  a  boy  of  fifteen.  He  was  invariably  singled  out 
as  a  "  show  scholar,"  and  it  speaks  much  for  his 
natural  good  sense  that  the  prominence  to  which 
he  attained  at  school  did  not  make  him  insufferably 
conceited.  Yet,  though  naturally  proud  of  his 
achievements,  he  was  at  that  time  and  ever  after- 
ward singularly  free  from  boasting,  taking  his 
honors  modestly  enough,  and  forgetting  them  at 
once  in  the  zeal  of  preparing  for  a  new  effort. 

This  trait  of  constant  intellectual  wakefulness 
was  a  saving  grace  at  all  times,  leading  him  into 
many  ingenious  occupations,  as  we  have  seen, 
when  he  was  a  little  boy  and  kept  by  his  infirmity 
from  active  exercise.  But  its  influence  in  the  de- 
velopment of  his  character  was  yet  more  impor- 
tant, since  by  keeping  his  mind  busy  it  made  it 
sane  and  wholesome.  To  say  that  he  loved  his 
work  seems  trite  and  commonplace  to  those  who 
recall  the  real  ecstasy  of  his  devotion  to  tasks  that 
absorbed  him.  Even  in  the  primary  school,  dur- 
ing those  trying  weeks  when  the  freedom  of  home 
life  is  first  exchanged  for  the  irksome  routine  of  a 
scholar's  desk,  we  find  the  lessons  to  him  one 
long  delight,  A  day  in  which  he  is  kept  home  is 
a  lost  day,  and  some  companion  must  come  and 
tell  him  all  that  happened  there,  and  what  new 
thing  was  learned.  In  this  healthy  ferment  of  the 
mind  there  was  no  room  for  the  vain-glory  of 
32 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

those  who  play  the  game  of  life  only  for  its  stakes, 
and  plume  themselves  after  each  success  obtained. 
With  him  a  prize  secured  only  meant  a  step  to  the 
next,  and  healthy  ambition  swallowed  up  pride  in 
this  continual  effort  after  new  laurels.  Occupa- 
tion, moreover,  had  much  to  do  in  preserving  him 
from  those  fits  of  depression  and  moodiness  to 
which  most  of  us  are  subject ;  and  the  almost  un- 
varying cheerfulness  of  his  disposition  won  him 
a  popularity  among  his  fellows  that  is  not  com- 
monly the  lot  of  clever  boys  who  are  easily  first 
in  their  classes.  It  may  be,  too,  that  an  entire 
freedom  from  the  sarcastic  in  his  nature  saved 
him  from  those  efforts  of  caustic  wit  that,  de- 
lightful though  they  may  be  to  some,  are  apt 
to  be  exercised  only  at  the  price  of  our  friend- 
ships. .  .  . 

It  was  as  mere  boys  that  we  first  came  together, 
and  under  the  magnetic  sway  of  his  quick  mind 
our  intimacy  soon  ripened.  I  was  with  him  in  Utica 
during  only  one  year,  after  which  I  moved  away ; 
and  since  it  is  my  design  to  confine  this  sketch 
chiefly  to  personal  recollections  and  the  estimate 
based  upon  them,  I  need  not  dwell  longer  upon  his 
career  at  school.  Thereafter  it  was  in  our  vaca- 
tions that  we  met,  oftenest  in  Utica,  for  Christ- 
mas and  Easter  were  never  more  fitly  honored  in 
the  observance  of  my  mind  than  at  the  home  and 
amid  the  books  and  treasures  in  Hopper  street. 
During  the  summer  there  were  days  and  weeks 
5  33 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

to  be  passed  at  the  seashore  or  in  the  woods  after 
the  manner  of  boys  of  our  kind,  each  long  holiday 
adding  appreciably  to  the  fund  of  common  remi- 
niscences that  were  subsequently  retailed  in  a 
correspondence  spasmodically  renewed  and  again 
allowed  to  lapse  in  the  rush  of  the  ensuing  term. 
One  trip,  which  we  made  alone  together  in  1876, 
stands  out  quite  preeminent  in  my  memory.  We 
ran  down  the  St.  Lawrence  from  the  Thousand 
Islands  to  the  Gulf,  stopping  long  enough  in  Mont- 
real and  Quebec  to  see  the  inside  of  a  foreign 
town,  and  so  to  Prince  Edward  Island  and  Nova 
Scotia,  where  we  passed  some  hot  but  exquisitely 
enjoyable  weeks.  In  such  rambles  amid  new 
scenes  life  to  George  always  seemed  to  come  at  its 
fullest.  He  was  bent  as  keenly  on  seeing  as  though 
this  first  long  journey  were  to  be  his  last ;  nor  was 
there  any  school-boy  carefulness  of  dignity  that 
prevented  him  from  joining  in  the  fun  that  was 
going,  however  strange  the  society  in  which  we 
were  thrown.  I  visited  him  once  in  Amherst  in 
the  spring  of  his  freshman  year,  and  felt,  as  well 
as  saw,  the  high  estimate  which  his  classmates  had 
already  put  upon  him.  He  was  then  seriously 
considering  architecture  as  a  profession,  for  which 
his  skill  in  drawing  as  well  as  his  tastes  naturally 
fitted  him.  After  his  choice  of  geology  was  defi- 
nitely made  he  wisely  began  his  technical  studies 
in  a  post-graduate  course  there  under  Professor 
Emerson,  and  at  the  end  of  the  college  year  he  was 
34 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

abundantly  prepared  to  improve  the  opportunities 
at  that  time  only  to  be  found  in  Germany. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  1879,  we  sailed  for  Liver- 
pool, renewing  on  the  steamer  our  intimate  com- 
panionship of  former  days,  which  the  separation 
in  our  different  colleges  had  of  late  somewhat 
abated.  If  I  dwell  at  length  upon  the  scenes  of 
these  three  ensuing  years  it  must  be  ascribed  not 
alone  to  their  joyous  memories,  which  are  all  my 
own,  but  to  the  newer  and  fuller  recognition  that 
came  to  me  in  this  period  of  a  character  that  had 
expanded  from  its  bright  youth  into  a  calmer  and 
concentrated  manhood.  The  year  of  special  study 
after  graduation  was  perceptible  in  the  steadying 
influence  brought  to  bear  upon  a  susceptible  mind 
by  holding  ever  before  it  the  necessity  of  pursuing 
a  single  high  aim.  To  him  now  life  meant  but 
one  thing  —  geology.  Not  that  this  new  concen- 
tration involved  the  entire  self-abnegation  which 
is  the  ideal  of  many  scientific  specialists.  On  the 
contrary,  his  love  of  life  and  the  living  continued 
with  an  unabated  unction  that  endeared  him  to 
those  who  cared  nothing  for  his  profession,  and 
which  explained  the  peculiar  warmth  of  affection 
bestowed  upon  him  by  men  of  all  tastes  and  call- 
ings. But  by  a  resolution  which  I  became  aware 
of  rather  intuitively, — for  we  rarely  discussed  these 
matters, — the  boy  had  quite  deliberately  put  aside 
other  interests  and  become  a  man  in  choosing  to 
work  at  one  definite  undertaking.  Henceforth  all 
35 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

other  studies  were  regarded  as  means  to  this  end ; 
and  so  intent  was  he  in  these  first  days  of  high  re- 
solve on  ordering  his  affairs  to  accord  with  a  sternly 
geological  conscience,  that  I  got  plenty  of  oppor- 
tunities for  banter  when  he  was  tempted  back  into 
paths  of  purely  worldly  enjoyment. 

There  are  occasional  references  to  this  devotion 
scattered  through  the  long  series  of  letters  begin- 
ning in  July  on  the  steamer  Montana,  and  sent 
with  undeviating  loyalty  to  the  family  at  home  dur- 
ing the  three  years  that  follow.  If  we  go  to  the 
Biergarten  or  to  the  theater — which  we  did  with- 
out reluctance — it  is  because  German  is  picked  up 
faster  in  such  places,  and  German  is  the  sine  qua 
non  of  the  university  course ;  if  we  take  an  excur- 
sion to  the  Hartz  Mountains,  or  to  a  neighboring 
town,  it  is  because  these  jaunts  reveal  the  physi- 
cal structure  of  an  important  region  ;  if  we  spend 
a  vacation  in  Dresden  or  in  Italy,  it  is  because  these 
occasions  for  broadening  the  mind,  when  no  lec- 
tures are  read,  should  not  be  neglected.  I  should 
do  him  injustice  indeed  were  I  to  emphasize  too 
strenuously  a  trait  that  was  evident  only  to  a  very 
few,  and  that  might  be  ascribed  in  part  to  the  pos- 
session of  a  conscience  inherited  from  Puritan  an- 
cestors ;  but  the  awakening  in  him  of  this  fastidious 
sense  of  fitness  seems  to  me  to  mark  a  great  change 
in  the  youth's  character,  a  change  without  which 
the  lad  of  infinite  possibilities  would  never  have 
become  the  man  of  infinite  purpose. 

36 


EARLY   LIFE   AND    DEVELOPMENT 

We  spent  a  few  weeks  in  England  before  settling 
in  the  North  German  town  of  Brunswick  for  a  pre- 
paratory course  in  German,  which  George  here  com- 
menced ab  initio.  His  progress  in  learning  the 
language  was  extraordinarily  rapid,  owing  both  to 
his  quick  mastery  of  its  grammatical  structure  and 
to  his  good-natured  insistence  in  making  his  Ger- 
man acquaintances  talk  to  him  ;  and  it  was  no- 
ticeable that  in  this  respect  the  girls  of  the  family 
were  singularly  compliant.  Our  study  of  German 
at  this  time  was,  oddly  enough,  the  only  occasion 
when  we  were  ever  at  work  together  on  the  same 
subject,  and  it  afforded  me  an  opportunity  to  ap- 
praise his  intellectual  methods  which  I  should  not 
otherwise  have  enjoyed.  He  not  only  worked 
rapidly  and  surely,  but  always  insisted  upon  a  de- 
gree of  absolute  correctness  that  seemed  to  me  to 
border  upon  a  counsel  of  perfection .  Once  engaged 
in  study,  nothing  would  call  him  off  until  the  task 
was  done,  and  often  in  hours  of  recreation  he  would 
go  over  the  lesson  with  an  enthusiasm  that  showed 
a  keen  relish  for  the  mere  brain  exercise.  He  de- 
vised a  plan  for  committing  to  memory  the  irregular 
verbs  by  writing  the  German  on  one  side  and  its 
English  equivalent  on  the  other  of  some  pasteboard 
bits  which  he  carried  loose  in  his  pocket.  Then, 
when  on  his  walks  abroad,  he  amused  himself  and 
his  companion  by  pulling  them  out  one  at  a  time  and 
giving  the  principal  parts  if  the  German  turned  up, 
or  the  German  meaning  if  the  English  appeared, 
37 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

until  the  pocketful  was  transferred  to  the  other 
side  of  his  coat.  Such  a  device,  though  unimpor- 
tant by  itself,  has  a  certain  interest  as  illustrating 
the  ready  and  often  ingenious  methods  to  which 
he  was  apt  to  turn  as  a  stimulus  to  his  studies, 
and  the  inventive  habit  thus  acquired  was  after- 
ward made  of  good  service  in  his  career  as  a 
teacher. 

There  was  some  debate  as  to  which  university 
should  be  chosen  for  the  winter  semester.  Got- 
tingen  was  finally  selected  as  offering  good  facilities 
in  chemistry  and  mineralogy,  and  as  being  the 
home  of  Professor  von  Seebach,  a  geologist  of 
eminence.  We  removed  thither  at  the  end  of 
October,  and  were  promptly  established  in  stu- 
dent quarters  in  the  quaint  little  town,  after  the 
fashion  described  in  George's  letter  home : 

"  We  left  Brunswick  at  1 1 135  and  arrived,  with- 
out mishap,  in  Gottingen  at  2:30.  Of  course  we 
looked  very  green  indeed,  and  both  of  us  felt  like 
freshmen  at  an  American  college,  and,  indeed,  our 
position  was  exactly  similar.  Our  excessive  ver- 
dancy immediately  attracted  to  our  side  a  profes- 
sional '  Studentenfanger/  or  student-catcher,  as 
they  are  called  here,  and  knowing  nothing  else  to 
do,  we  calmly  allowed  ourselves  to  be  captured 
and  managed  by  him.  We  were  horribly  hungry, 
and  so  first  got  dinner,  after  which  we  started  with 
our  would-be  guide  in  quest  of  lodgings.  I  had 
38 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

never  heard  of  but  one  sort  of  student-life  in  Got- 
tingen,  and  so  the  idea  of  being  outside  the  walls, 
or  of  living  in  a  family,  never  entered  my  head,  a 
circumstance  of  which  I  am  now  very  glad.  We 
rushed  about  with  our  '  vade-mecum/  looking  at 
all  sorts  of  quarters,  luckily  with  our  minds  pretty 
well  made  up  as  to  what  we  wanted,  and  at  last 
settled  on  a  great  big  parlor  and  bed-room  fitted  up 
in  most  thoroughly  German  style — 17  Rothe 
Strasse — where  we  are  at  present  lords  of  all  we 
survey,  and  living  in  the  most  independent  way 
of  which  you  could  conceive.  You  see,  we  have 
no  lack  of  room  or  furniture.  The  rooms  front  on 
the  street,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city.  We  have 
four  large  windows  that  look  directly  south,  and 
as  we  are  in  the  third  story  we  get  all  the  sun  pos- 
sible, though  it  hardly  ever  shines  here  at  all,  and 
if  it  did,  we  are  so  far  north  that  at  high  noon  it 
would  hardly  be  as  high  as  the  roofs  of  the  houses 
opposite.  However,  it  is  now  shining  brightly, 
and  falls  directly  into  our  room.  We  both  of  us 
have  a  large  study  table  with  a  couple  of  book- 
shelves over  it,  besides  any  amount  of  drawers  and 
nooks  and  corners  '  to  put  things  in.'  Our  stove 
keeps  us  abundantly  warm,  and  so  far  we  have 
been  supplied  only  with  wood,  which  is  certainly 
far  superior  to  coal.  Our  sofa  is  luxurious,  and 
our  beds  excellent,  so  we  are  quite  comfortable, 
and  the  best  of  all  is  that  we  pay  for  all  these  ad- 
vantages only  $15  each  from  now  till  March  15, 

39 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

exclusive  of  fire  and  light.  '  Sehr  billig ! '  as  the 
Germans  say.  The  same  man  who  at  first  piloted 
us  about  exercises  his  exclusive  rights  as  '  Stiefel- 
Fuchs/  or  boot-cleaner,  every  morning  by  coming 
before  we  are  up  and  blacking  our  boots  and  brush- 
ing our  clothes,  while  the  Dienstmadchen,  who  is 
always  at  the  other  end  of  our  bell-rope,  will  do 
anything  we  want,  from  building  our  fire  as  many 
times  in  the  day  as  necessary  to  bringing  us  beer 
to  drink  in  the  evening.  We  feel  quite  as  tho' 
we  were  luxuriating  in  two  servants,  while  it  costs 
us  almost  nothing.  Every  morning  when  we  hop 
out  of  bed  we  come  out  into  a  warm  room  where 
a  bright  fire  is  blazing  away,  and  a  big  pot  of  coffee 
is  on  the  stove. 

"Thefirst  morning  after  our  arrival  here  we  went 
out  for  a  walk,  and  after  looking  about  the  town 
for  a  while  decided  to  look  up  what  Americans  we 
could  find.  We  were  directed  outside  of  the  walls, 
and  at  length  discovered  a  house  where  there  were 
four.  We  found  that  Americans  at  this  university 
always  club  together  and  form  what  is  called  the 
'  American  Colony  '  for  the  purpose  of  assisting 
new-comers,  and  for  mutual  pleasure  and  profit, 
while  they  do  not  meet  often  enough  to  interfere 
with  individual  work.  This  institution  has  had  a 
continual  existence  since  1855,  anc^  nas  *ts  regular 
organization,  books,  American  flags,  etc.  The 
oldest  resident  member  is  styled  the  Patriarch,  and 
has  charge  of  the  archives  and  is  chairman  at  all  the 
40 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

meetings.  Perhaps  the  greatest  service  our  coun- 
trymen have  rendered  us  has  been  to  find  us  what 
promises  to  be  a  capital  boarding-place.  We  had 
taken  it  rather  as  a  matter  of  course  that  we  should 
have  to  board  at  a  restaurant,  and  had  been  trying 
several  and  began  to  despair  of  finding  anything 
respectable.  Everywhere  was  the  board  poor,  and 
we  were  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  German 
students,  who  eat  exactly  like  animals  and  who 
never  say  a  word  while  they  are  at  work.  We 
gladly  accepted  an  invitation  from  two  Americans 
to  take  tea  with  them  in  the  family  of  a  lady  whose 
husband  was  formerly  a  professor  and  is  now  dead. 
The  family  understand  no  English,  so  German 
must  always  be  spoken,  which  for  our  friends  is 
easy  enough,  and  for  us  will  be  a  great  advantage 
— for  we  have  decided  to  try  the  house  for  a  month 
at  least,  and  think  that  we  shall  like  it  immensely. 
"  My  work  at  the  university  will  begin  in  earnest 
to-morrow.  I  have  not  been  matriculated,  but  that 
will  come  very  soon.  For  this  semester,  of  course, 
the  work  I  do  is  not  so  important  as  my  German, 
and  yet  I  shall  not  be  idle.  I  shall  at  least  have 
two  lectures  every  day,  one  in  Inorganic  Chemistry 
by  Professor  Hubner,  and  one  on  Mineralogy  by 
Professor  Klein.  Perhaps  I  shall  also  have  half  a 
day's  work  in  the  laboratory  besides.  Most  unfor- 
tunately Professor  Seebach,  with  whom  Professor 
Emerson  studied  here,  is  too  sick  to  do  any  active 
work.  He  is  a  comparatively  young  man,  but  is 
6  41 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

said  to  be  dying  of  consumption.  He  is  quite  re- 
nowned, and  is  already  an  authority  on  American 
geology,  having  been  in  the  United  States  a  num- 
ber of  years.  I  sent  my  letter  of  introduction  to 
him  to-day  through  the  mail,  and  hope  that  I  shall 
soon  hear  that  he  can  see  me." 

So  liberal  a  quotation  as  this  would  entirely  fail 
of  the  object  sought  in  its  reproduction  here  if  it 
did  not  convey  more  accurately  than  any  words 
of  my  own  could  his  abiding  determination  to  see 
and  make  the  best  of  his  environment.  To  his 
optimism  every  change  was  a  promise  of  better 
things,  and  the  will  to  seize  upon  the  favorable 
factors  in  a  given  situation  was  frequently  all  that 
was  necessary  to  secure  for  himself  whatever  was 
suited  to  his  needs.  He  possessed,  nevertheless, 
sufficient  discernment  to  prevent  his  falling  readily 
into  choosing  merely  what  was  nearest  and  most 
convenient.  However  complaisant  and  courteous 
to  those  with  whom  he  came  into  professional 
contact,  it  was  evident  that  his  demands  upon  them 
would  be  rigorous  if  his  own  high  ideals  were  to 
be  fulfilled.  The  educational  opportunities  which 
Gottingen  afforded  him  were  soon  found  to  be 
meager  enough  in  the  absence  of  Seebach  from  his 
chair,  yet,  being  once  fairly  settled  to  work,  he 
wisely  concluded  to  get  all  the  benefits  possible 
from  the  courses  in  chemistry  and  mineralogy, 
and  by  completing  the  semester  there  to  make  this 
42 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

time  count  toward  the  three  years  necessary  to 
securing  a  university  degree.  In  January,  indeed, 
any  remaining  doubts  were  dissipated  by  the  rather 
sudden  death  of  Professor  von  Seebach,  whose 
funeral  is  described  in  the  following  letter  as  a 
characteristic  episode  of  German  university  life  : 

"Between  Wednesday  last  and  yesterday  (Sat- 
urday), there  has  not  been  much  doing  in  the  uni- 
versity. Nothing  can  be  more  German  than  the 
way  every  one  here  seizes  the  least  opportunity  to 
take  a  little  rest.  Seebach  had  done  no  active 
work  for  a  year  and  a  half,  but  his  death  has  af- 
forded a  chance  for  a  general  stoppage  which  cul- 
minated yesterday  in  a  complete  cessation  of  all 
lectures.  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday  were 
nominal  workdays,  to  be  sure,  but  no  one  felt  in- 
clined to  work  much  —  out  of  honor  for  the  pro- 
fessor. I  made  the  most  of  the  time  in  catching 
up  in  some  work  with  which  I  had  fallen  some- 
what behind,  and  in  reading  a  good  deal  of  Ger- 
man. On  account  of  the  funeral  yesterday  the  day 
was  regarded  as  rather  a  festal  occasion,  and  really 
the  procession  reminded  me  much  more  of  one  of 
our  4th-of-July  processions  than  anything  funereal 
which  I  had  ever  before  seen.  There  were  some 
unimportant  exercises  at  the  house  at  ten  o'clock, 
after  which  the  train  moved  through  the  town  to 
the  Albani  churchyard,  where  he  was  buried.  As 
the  procession  was  to  pass  our  room  I  did  not  go 
43 


EARLY   LIFE    AND   DEVELOPMENT 

to  the  house,  but  attended  it  from  here  to  the  ceme- 
tery. Long  before  we  could  see  or  hear  anything 
from  our  windows  the  streets  were  full  of  expect- 
ant people.  After  a  time  we  heard  music,  and  at 
length  the  procession  itself  appeared.  First  came 
the  two  reverend  University  pedells  (or  poodles,  as 
they  are  called  here),  dressed  in  the  deepest  mourn- 
ing and  followed  by  a  full  brass  band  the  members 
of  which  wore  long  black  robes,  black  stovepipe 
hats,  and  discoursed  the  most  doleful  music.  Next 
came  the  hearse — a  broad  open  cart,  drawn  by 
four  horses  covered  to  their  hoofs  with  black  robes. 
Upon  this  was  placed  the  coffin,  an  enormous 
yellow  sarcophagus,  covered  with  green  branches 
and  white  ribbons.  Behind  this  came  the  greater 
part  of  the  faculty,  the  professors  and  other  offi- 
cials walking  two  by  two.  This  certainly  closed 
the  funeral  part  of  the  affair,  for  next  came  the 
corps,  each  represented  by  its  most  honored  mem- 
bers—  the  old  and  hardest  fighters,  who  evidently 
considered  that  they  were  conferring  the  greatest 
possible  honor  upon  the  professor  by  thus  follow- 
ing him  to  his  grave,  Twelve  or  thirteen  corps 
and  societies  were  represented,  each  of  which  was 
preceded  by  its  most  famous  members,  carrying 
its  flags  and  dressed  in  costumes  such  as  it  is  rarely 
one's  lot  to  see  outside  of  a  masquerade  ball  or  a 
costumer's  shop.  Some  had  on  dress  suits,  but 
more  were  arrayed  in  the  most  fantastic  clothes, 
composed  of  every  color  of  the  rainbow  and  giving 
44 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

them  rather  the  appearance  of  harlequins  than  of 
mourners  at  a  funeral.  This  gay  and  festive  as- 
sortment of  the  pets  of  the  university  was  followed 
by  the  ordinary  students  who  were  inclined  thus 
to  show  their  respect  for  the  departed,  and  the 
whole  train  was  closed  by  a  company  of  soldiers. 
There  were  no  carriages,  the  only  one  that  was 
used  being  driven  up  in  great  haste,  after  the  rest 
had  reached  the  grave,  containing  the  two  minis- 
ters who  were  to  officiate  there.  The  ceremony 
was  short,  but  as  the  snow  was  wet  and  cold,  I 
did  not  remain  but  came  directly  home.  Although 
the  regular  Saturday  duels  were  omitted,  there  was 
a  '  Kneipe '  indulged  in  that  evening  which  fully 
equaled  any  Irish  wake  of  which  I  ever  heard." 

On  our  return  from  Dresden,  where  the  Christ- 
mas holidays  were  spent,  George  remained  a  few 
days  in  Leipzig  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the 
opportunities  offered  there  in  his  line.  I  quote 
a  passage  from  his  letter  describing  this  visit  for 
its  interest  as  being  the  first  announcement  of  his 
desire  to  enter  upon  a  specialty  with  which  his 
career  is  closely  associated. 

"  A  Mr.  Cross,  who  graduated  from  Amherst  in 
1875,  is  now  studying  mineralogy  with  Professor 
Zirkel  in  Leipsic,  and  has  been  very  kind,  devoting 
an  entire  day  to  explaining  his  work  to  me,  and  in 
taking  me  to  call  on  the  professors,  etc.  His  course 

45 


EARLY   LIFE    AND    DEVELOPMENT 

throughout  has  been  almost  exactly  similar  to  mine, 
having  spent  a  post-graduate  year  in  Amherst  and 
then  gone  directly  to  Gottingen,  where  he  re- 
mained till  spring,  when  he  removed  to  Leipzig. 
As  it  is  of  course  impossible,  when  one  is  study- 
ing geology,  to  go  deeply  into  all  departments,  it 
becomes  necessary  very  soon  to  choose  a  line  of 
study  in  which  to  make  one's  final  examination. 
Cross  almost  immediately  decided  upon  Professor 
Zirkel's  specialty,  microscopical  lithology  or  Pe- 
tragraphy.  This  is  almost  a  new  science,  having 
been  developed  by  Professors  Zirkel  and  Rosen- 
busch  (of  Heidelberg),  who  are  now  acknowledged 
as  its  leaders.  It  consists  of  the  examination  of 
the  internal  structure  of  rocks,  cut  into  thin  sec- 
tions, by  the  microscope,  and,  as  almost  nothing 
in  this  line  has  yet  been  done  in  America,  it  ap- 
peared to  Cross  to  offer  the  best  chance  for  original 
work.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  all  the 
work  of  this  kind  done  by  late  United  States  Gov- 
ernment Surveys  was  performed  in  Leipzig  by 
Zirkel.  Certainly  it  will  be  useless  for  me  to  think 
of  studying  longer  than  this  semester  in  Gottingen, 
as  Seebach,  the  only  geologist,  is  beyond  work. 
That  Leipzig  is  by  far  the  best  place  for  me  to  go  to 
I  am  thoroughly  convinced,  as  well  from  my  own 
visit  to  the  place  as  from  all  I  hear  from  other 
sources.  Besides  Zirkel  as  petragraphist  and  min- 
eralogist, Credner,  one  of  the  best-known  geolo- 
gists in  Germany,  is  there.  He  has,  in  addition  to 
46 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

his  regular  university  work,  the  sole  direction  of 
the  survey  of  Saxony,  which  is  now  being  very 
carefully  made,  so  that  he  has  the  best  possible  op- 
portunity to  give  his  students  practical  out-door 
work  in  the  way  of  excursions,  both  alone  and 
with  him,  the  railroad  expenses  of  which  are  paid 
by  government." 

This  letter  must  not  be  considered  so  character- 
istic of  his  enthusiastic  optimism  as  it  at  first 
appears.  He  was  won  to  write  these  hopeful 
phrases  by  the  inspiration  of  a  perfectly  new  dis- 
covery, and  how  new  this  branch  of  science  was 
to  him^is  best  witnessed  by  his  persistently  em- 
ploying the  erroneous  form  petragraphy  in  letters 
of  this  period.  But  his  final  decision  was  not 
reached  without  some  misgivings,  nor  without  a 
'sturdy  determination  to  discuss  his  course  fully 
in  relation  to  every  facility  which  the  whole  uni- 
versity system  of  Germany  might  offer  him.  It 
was  his  way  to  catch  at  ideas  eagerly,  even  bran- 
dishing them  a  little  when  caught,  yet  few  men 
of  his  age  could  be  found  anywhere  who  were  less 
apt  to  be  guided  by  impulse.  His  was  a  time  of 
life  then  to  yield  to  enthusiasms  that  were  super- 
lative, excessive  in  their  first  flush,  but  which, 
whether  in  estimating  persons  or  professional  prob- 
lems, never  seemed  to  permanently  affect  his  sober 
judgment. 

I  left  him  in  Gottingen  at  the  end  of  February 
47 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

still  debating  his  future,  but  disposed  to  adopt  pe- 
trography as  the  "Hauptfach"  of  his  university 
career.  During  my  absence  of  a  fortnight  in  Eng- 
land and  Belgium  he  concluded  his  lectures  and  re- 
paired to  Heidelberg — audire  alteram  partem — to 
personally  investigate  the  advantages  offered  by  the 
only  university  that  could  boast  a  rival  to  Zirkel. 
This  he  was  prevented  from  doing  by  a  sudden 
and  rather  dangerous  inflammation  of  the  orbital 
periosteum  that  developed  on  the  day  after  his  ar- 
rival in  Heidelberg,  whither  he  summoned  me  by 
telegram  to  seek  for  him  in  the  hospital. 

His  illness,  coming  as  it  did  at  the  outset  of  a 
vacation  trip  to  Italy,  which  we  had  planned  with 
much  eagerness,  made  us  both  very  grave.  The 
disease,  which  might  be  roughly  explained  to  the 
lay  reader  as  a  sty  growing  inward,  not  infre- 
quently involves  the  loss  of  an  eye,  and  this  to  the 
poor  boy  meant  a  total  extinguishment  of  all  his 
cherished  hopes,  while  I,  hardly  less  concerned, 
had  to  summon  up,  as  best  I  could,  the  unhappy 
courage  of  the  looker-on.  Fortunately  we  were 
not  kept  long  in  suspense  ;  the  swelling  was  lanced 
by  one  of  the  most  skilful  oculists  in  Germany,  and . 
at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  we  were  upon  our  way 
south.  But  the  detention  had  prevented  him  from 
seeing  for  himself  what  the  university  had  to  offer 
him.  Yet  he  found  out  enough  from  some  fellow 
Americans  here, — chance  acquaintances,  but  soon 
friends, —  to  convince  him  in  the  brief  interval  of 
48 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

his  convalescence  that  Heidelberg,  after  all,  was 
what  he  wanted.  He  left  the  place  with  a  deter- 
mination, never  afterwards  regretted,  to  return 
there  for  his  next  semester. 

In  Italy  we  were  once  more  school-boys  on  a 
holiday  lark  as  in  years  gone  by.  I  confess  I 
watched  my  cousin  with  some  interest  for  signs, 
amid  the  stimulating  scenes  through  which  we 
passed,  of  a  revived  penchant  for  architecture,  the 
choice  of  which  he  had  laid  aside  for  science ;  but 
there  was  no  intimation  at  all  of  this.  His  recol- 
lection of  what  he  had  read  on  art  quickened  the 
delight  he  took  in  sight-seeing,  as  it  would  another; 
that  was  all.  From  these  somewhat  esthetic  plea- 
sures, fascinating  as  they  might  be  to  one  side  of 
his  nature,  he  turned  with  even  increased  satisfac- 
tion to  his  geological  studies.  The  full  letters, 
which  it  is  hard  to  refrain  from  quoting  here,  occa- 
sionally give  expression  to  a  feeling,  increasing 
with  his  sense  of  manhood,  that  such  vacation  en- 
joyments are  only  fit  as  interludes  in  one's  serious 
work,  and  there  occurs  in  all  of  them  no  declara- 
tion of  delight  more  sincere  than  that  of  returning 
to  a  university  curriculum.  He  is  settled  early  in 
May  under  the  shadow  of  the  great  castle,  in  a 
pension  which  contrasts  blandly  with  the  primi- 
tive lodgings  described  in  his  first  letter  from 
Gottingen. 

"Our  landlady,  Frau  Rath  Nebel,"  he  writes, 
"  is  a  charming  old  lady,  and  has  quite  a  family  of 
7  49 


EARLY   LIFE   AND    DEVELOPMENT 

her  own.  One  of  her  daughters  is  married  and 
living  in  Constantinople,  where,  of  course,  all  the 
others  have  been  to  visit  her,  and  have  brought 
back  from  thence  Turkish  things  that  rival,  if  they 
do  not  surpass,  Mother's  choicest  assortment.  It 
seems  not  a  little  natural  for  me  to  go  into  a  parlor 
where  the  hard-wood  floor  is  covered  with  Persian 
rugs,  and  the  divans,  tables,  and  a  good  part  of  the 
walls  with  Turkish  embroidery,  while  the  windows 
and  door-ways  are  hung  with  beautiful  oriental 
curtains  and  lambrequins.  As  you  may  imagine, 
two  or  three  Turkish  tables  and  a  lot  of  old  china 
make  the  illusion  quite  perfect,  and  were  it  not  that 
I  miss  the  old  familiar  faces,  I  might  even  think 
myself  at  home." 

The  mention  of  Oriental  stuffs  suggests  the  only 
other  extensive  journey  which  I  made  with  him  in 
Europe.  Whether  moved  by  the  encouragement 
of  his  worthy  landlady,  or  by  the  invitation  of  our 
aunt,  who  was  then  living  in  Constantinople,  I 
know  not,  but  by  the  end  of  the  semester  he  ap- 
pears to  have  been  seized  with  a  sort  of  yearning 
for  the  East.  He  wrote  an  appealing  letter  to  me 
in  Berlin  to  join  him,  and,  nothing  loath,  I  met  him 
by  arrangement  in  Triest  to  begin  another  two- 
months'  trip  in  his  company.  Our  route  to  Athens 
included  a  stop  over  a  day  in  the  island  of  Syra, 
where  he  was  soon  in  search  of  some  hornblende 
rock  about  which  I  had  heard  much  already  on  the 
50 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

voyage.  ' '  Walked  about  the  town/'  he  writes  in 
his  diary,  "and  even  ascended  the  hills  which  rise 
behind  it,  seeking  the  Glaukophan,  which  occurs 
in  such  abundance  and  perfection,  but  found  it  so 
insufferably  hot  that  I  was  obliged  to  give  up  my 
quest.  I  found  the  principal  mass  below  was  a 
talcose-micaceous  schist,  with  glaucophane  crys- 
tals overtopped  with  masses  of  bluish  limestone, 
which  were  extensively  quarried  for  building  pur- 
poses, and  even  exceeded  in  thickness  the  schist 
below.  However,  the  general  formation  of  the 
island  is  rather  complicated,  and  I  could  see  and 
judge  but  little  of  it.  F.  wandered  in  another  di- 
rection in  his  search  for  pretty  Greek  girls  and  was 
more  successful  than  I."  It  is  only  a  glimpse  of 
him  at  the  threshold  of  his  life's  work.  I  cannot 
convey  to  another  the  clear  impression  it  brings 
back  to  me  of  his  whimsical  disgust  at  the  vulgar 
obstacles  of  ill-smelling  hovels  and  an  August  sun 
which  had  thwarted  him — nor  of  the  half  wistful 
look  that  greeted  my  account  of  pleasanterand  less 
ambitious  adventures. 

For  the  humanity  that  was  strong  within  him 
redeemed  him  from  the  least  taint  of  priggishness 
toward  those  of  secular  tastes,  keeping  him,  both 
at  this  formative  period  and  later,  in  touch  with  the 
world  of  every-day  people.  He  stood  well,  too,  in 
the  self-sacrificing  and  kindly  life  of  those  good 
women  at  whose  house  in  Scutari  we  spent  a 
month  of  rest  and  recreation.  They  left  nothing 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

undone  that  could  add  to  our  enjoyment,  already 
overflowing  with  the  mere  delight  of  a  return,  after 
so  many  months  among  strangers,  to  the  frank  in- 
timacies of  dear  relatives  and  home-life.  This  is 
not  the  place  to  indicate  the  wealth  of  incident  with 
which  this  visit  teemed,  nor  to  try  and  paint  its 
pageantry  of  light  and  color.  Its  effect  upon 
George  was  obviously  stimulating,  but  more  no- 
ticeable than  this  to  me  was  the  happiness  that 
seemed  to  radiate  from  him  upon  all  the  friends 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  making  our  excur- 
sions and  festivities  fall  below  the  standard  of  per- 
fection without  his  genial  presence. 

By  piecing  together  a  few  fragments  from  his 
letters  we  shall  make  him  his  own  witness  to  his 
work  during  the  next  semester.  From  this  time 
he  appears  in  the  full  current  of  professional  study, 
with  eye  single  to  his  course  and  impatient  of  any 
interruption  that  at  all  delayed  the  prospect  of  a 
degree. 

(November,  1 880.)  ' '  For  our  mutual  improve- 
ment three  of  us  who  are  together  in  the  Lab. 
have  recently  organized  a  mineralogical  colloqui- 
um, which  meets  twice  a  week.  We  come  toge- 
ther alternately  in  our  different  rooms,  and  for  two 
hours  at  a  time  put  each  other  through  as  rigid  an 
examination  on  some  carefully  prepared  subject  as 
is  possible,  and  as  we  are  all  bent  on  work  the 
thing  promises  to  be  productive  of  the  best  results 
— to  me  especially,  as  I  get  German  at  the  same 
52 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

time  with  mineralogy.  By  confining  ourselves  to 
a  definite  and  comparatively  limited  subject  each 
evening,  we  shall  be  able  to  cover  the  whole 
ground  in  the  course  of  the  semester  in  a  most 
profitable  and  thorough  way.  In  preparing  for  ex- 
amination this  is  the  best  practice  one  can  have. 
Of  my  two  colleagues  one  is  a  Berliner  who  has 
already  spent  a  considerable  time  in  pursuing  geo- 
logical studies,  and  the  other  is  a  Japanese  who 
has  spent  a  good  portion  of  his  life  in  Germany 
in  the  same  line,  and  as  neither  can  speak  a  word 
of  English  I  find  it  to  my  interest,  both  for  the 
sake  of  science  and  language,  to  cultivate  them 
assiduously.  .  .  . 

"  The  more  we  who  work  with  him  know  of 
Rosenbusch  the  better  we  like  him.  Dr.  Oebecke, 
who  has  already  been  employed  in  various  Ger- 
man universities  for  some  eight  years  past,  says 
that  he  has  never  before  met  so  generous,  kind- 
hearted,  and  devoted  a  professor,  and  this  is  cer- 
tainly my  experience  also.  He  is  always  in  the 
laboratory,  and,  no  matter  what  he  is  doing,  is 
ready  to  put  himself  at  our  disposal  any  minute. 
He  is  most  generous  in  furnishing  us  with  mate- 
rial, that  would  otherwise  be  unattainable,  for 
working  into  our  own  collections — quite  contrary 
to  the  custom  of  professors  generally,  who  are 
much  more  ready  to  take  than  to  give.  He  seems 
to  take  a  special  interest  in  me,  and  I  have  enjoyed 
many  a  good  talk  with  him  on  politics,  art,  etc., 

53 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

as  well  as  on  mineralogy,  and  upon  all  of  these  he 
is  remarkably  informed.  He  is  also  a  great  trav- 
eller and  linguist,  speaking  French,  Spanish,  Italian, 
Portuguese,  and  English,  as  well  as  German,  hav- 
ing, indeed,  studied  philology,  and  made  his  degree 
in  that  subject  in  Gottingen. 

(February,  1881 .)  "It  had  been  my  intention  to 
take  palaeontology  in  order  to  obtain  as  broad  a  view 
of  the  entire  field  as  possible.  This  is,  however, 
contrary  to  the  advice  both  of  Rosenbusch  and  Em- 
erson. As  they  both  rightly  say,  the  day  is  past 
when  any  one  man  can  possess  any  very  special 
knowledge  of  both  the  sides — inorganic  and  organic 
— of  geology,  and  as  the  former  seems  to  be  much 
more  to  my  taste,  it  is  better  that  I  devote  myself, 
now  at  least,  altogether  to  that.  Any  thorough 
knowledge  of  palaeontology  must  be  prefaced  by  a 
long  study  of  zoology,  while  all  the  mineralogy  and 
petrography  I  could  get  must  be  more  or  less  super- 
ficial without  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  chem- 
istry, in  which  I  'm  sadly  lacking.  Here  in  Hei- 
delberg is  the  best  inorganic  laboratory  in  Europe, 
with  Bunsen  at  its  head,  than  whom  no  one  has 
accomplished  more  or  become  better  known  in  his 
chosen  branch.  In  a  long  talk  I  had  with  Rosen- 
busch the  other  day,  his  advice  was  to  give  up  my 
idea  of  working  in  palaeontology  and  take  Bunsen's 
course  until  I  could  make  to  my  own  satisfaction 
silicate  analyses,  when  —  and  when  only  —  I  shall 
be  able  to  fully  appreciate  and  use  the  petrographi- 
54 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

cal  and  mineralogical  knowledge  I  get  from  him. 
This  is  certainly  to  the  point,  and  in  accepting  it  I 
shall  begin  my  work  in  the  chemical  laboratory 
next  semester." 

In  the  spring  following  he  stayed  six  weeks  with 
me  in  Paris,  from  whence  we  ran  in  April  down  to 
the  Auvergne  region.  He  did  his  duty  but  imper- 
fectly towards  the  sights  of  the  city,  but  here  is  the 
story  of  one  of  his  occupations  : 

(Paris,  March  20,  1 88 1 .)  "I  would  not  have  you 
think  that  I  have  been  quite  idle  here,  though  I  've 
seen  few  of  the  sights  that  ordinarily  interest  a 
stranger.  Professors  Fouque  and  Levy  are  at  work 
here  in  the  College  de  France,  and  I  called  on  them 
last  Monday — rather  in  fear  and  trembling,  as  I 
knew  I  could  n't  speak  a  word  of  French.  How- 
ever, Fred  went  with  me,  and  after  an  introduction, 
and  discovering  that  they  both  spoke  German  all 
went  smoothly  enough.  They  are  the  authors  of 
that  splendid  work  on  petrography,  of  which  I 
wrote  you,  and  received  me  most  cordially  when 
they  learned  I  was  a  scholar  of  Rosenbusch.  They 
seemed  only  too  glad  to  show  and  explain  anything 
to  me.  Their  specialty  is  the  investigation  of  rocks 
synthetically, — i.e.,  their  artificial  reproduction 
from  their  chemical  elements, —  in  this  way  dis- 
covering the  various  conditions  of  heat,  pressure, 
etc.,  under  which  they  must  have  been  formed  in 
volcanoes.  In  this  line  they  are  as  yet  almost  the 
55 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

only  investigators,  and  their  results  have  quite  sur- 
passed their  own  expectations.  Owing  to  their 
kindness  I  have  already  passed  four  mornings  with 
them,  and  thoroughly  seen  the  way  in  which  they 
obtain  their  artificial  productions,  and  also  micro- 
scopically examined  them  in  sections,  and  compared 
them  with  natural  ones,  from  which  they  are  hardly 
to  be  distinguished.  Perhaps  best  of  all  is  the 
assistance  I  've  received  from  Professor  Fouque  for 
carrying  out  my  cherished  project  for  a  visit  to  the 
Auvergne  in  central  France.  He  has  shown  and 
told  me  of  everything  that  exists  in  the  way  of 
books  and  maps  on  that  district,  and  has  laid  out 
a  detailed  plan  for  a  two- weeks!  trip  there." 

The  Black  Forest  having  been  selected  as  a  pro- 
mising locality  for  work  leading  to  a  thesis  he  spent 
a  portion  of  his  next  vacation  there.  The  scientific 
value  of  this  investigation  is  elsewhere  estimated  ; 
I  cull  this  from  a  letter  as  an  indication  that  his 
humor  and  eye  for  the  picturesque  are  still  alive : 

(Tryberg,  September  25,  1881.)  "  My  life  here 
has  already  become  almost  as  prosaic  and  unevent- 
ful as  that  of  the  people  among  whom  I  have  taken 
up  my  abode.  I  go  wandering  about  from  morn- 
ing to  night  in  long  leggings,  with  a  knapsack  on 
my  back  and  a  big  hammer  in  my  hand,  exciting 
the  curiosity  of  all  the  old  farmers  and  buxom  coun- 
try girls,  as  much  as  they,  by  their  strange  costumes 
and  odd  customs,  do  mine.  Now  here,  as  every- 
56 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

where  in  Europe,  there  is  no  employment  quite  so 
low  as  pounding  stones  on  the  public  road,  and  to 
see  a  wild-looking  individual,  dressed  in  the  above 
fashion,  doing  this,  and  doing  it  too  in  the  most 
random  way,  excites  them  beyond  measure  ;  and 
often  after  their  friendly  '  guten  Tag,'  they  come  up 
to  me  with  the  funniest  questions.  If  I  tell  them 
that  I  am  from  America  their  interest  is  vastly  in- 
creased, as  almost  all  have  friends  or  relatives  there, 
and  of  course  at  once  inquire  after  them.  They 
generally  insist  that  I  must  have  emigrated  when 
young  from  Germany  to  look  as  human  as  I  do, 
and  one  old  watchmaker  the  other  day  in  Schon- 
wald,  after  I  had  convinced  him  that  I  had  been 
scarcely  two  years  in  this  country,  observed  that 
he  was  glad  to  have  seen  a  real  American  before  he 
died.  Not  that  Americans  are  any  scarcity  in  the 
Black  Forest,  but  they  seldom  depart  from  certain 
beaten  tracks  of  travel." 

It  is  pleasant  to  observe  in  these  three  years  of 
letters  a  gradual  improvement  in  literary  expres- 
sion. The  advance  was  eminently  unconscious 
and  incidental,  for  style  pure  and  simple  was  some- 
thing he  cared  little  about.  He  wrote,  as  he  spoke, 
naturally  rather  than  brilliantly  or  even  very  well, 
and  now  that  the  sound  of  the  voice  is  gone  no 
felicities  of  speech  remain  to  show  how  inspiriting 
he  could  make  his  talk.  His  letters  home  became 
shorter  and  somewhat  less  exhaustive  in  detail,  but 
57 


EARLY   LIFE   AND    DEVELOPMENT 

when  in  the  mood  he  would  hit  off  some  incidents 
with  a  -verve  that  renders  them  excellent  reading, 

(Heidelberg,  July  16,  1882.)  "Last  evening 
there  was  a  great  students' '  Commers/  or  drinking 
and  singing  affair,  in  the  old  hall  at  the  castle,  at 
which  six  hundred  students  were  present.  The 
Anglo-American  club  had  a  table  to  itself,  and 
Olds,  as  our  representative,  was  expected  to  pre- 
side in  regalia  uniform.  He  must  have  a  great 
plumed  hat,  a  dress-coat  and  vest,  tight-fitting 
white  pants,  and  high  cavalry  boots,  with  sword, 
gauntlet-gloves,  sash,  etc.  All  went  well  enough 
except  the  pantaloons,  but  they  were  impossible  to 
find,  so  he  ended  by  appearing  in  a  pair  of  drawers 
fixed  up  to  fit  the  occasion  !  I  told  him  I  should 
write  you  of  the  distinction  as  well  as  the  costume 
he  had  achieved. 

"  Poor  Blank  is  in  Europe  these  days  as  crazy  as 
ever,  if  not  more  so.  He  wrote  me  a  postal  from 
London  saying  that  he  and  the  President  would 
spend  to-day  in  Cologne,  coming  thence  the  next 
day  up  the  Rhine  to  Heidelberg.  He  begged  me 
to  meet  them  at  the  station,  without,  however, 
giving  any  time  for  their  arrival.  Yesterday  came 
a  telegram  from  Antwerp  begging  for  my  address. 
I  expect  to  see  him  before  long,  but  if  he  stays  here, 
as  he  proposes,  I  shall  procure  a  nurse  to  take  care 
of  him.  .  .  . 

"  The  student  world  was  not  a  little  excited  yes- 
58 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

terday  by  the  news  of  a  pistol  duel  between  two 
fellows  at  Neckarsteinach  —  where  I  took  the  girls 
for  an  excursion  when  they  were  here.  They  shot 
at  each  other  three  times,  each  time  coming  nearer, 
until  at  length,  when  only  five  paces  apart,  one 
man  received  a  bullet  in  the  abdomen,  which  very 
nearly  caused  his  death.  The  other  fled  to  France. 
A  pistol  duel  here  is  of  rare  occurrence,  but  even 
in  this  case  the  cause  for  quarrel  seems  ridiculous. 
One  fellow  passed  the  other  on  the  street  in  a  gray 
suit  and  remarked,  '  Gray  is  the  color  of  a  fool/ 
The  other  then  boxed  his  ears,  and  they  must  settle 
it  with  pistols." 

(October  i,  1882.)  "I  rejoice  to  say  that  my 
'  Arbeit '  is  progressing  excellently,  and  for  the 
past  two  weeks  I  have  worked  upon  nothing  else. 
I  have  now  already  copied  eighty-six  pages  of  it, 
and  shall  probably  have  forty  or  fifty  more.  This 
is  mostly  written, but  I  can  go  no  further  with  the 
copying  until  I  have  finished  some  laboratory  work 
which  will  occupy  me  all  of  the  coming  week.  What 
will  really  make  the  most  interesting  point  in  the 
whole  affair  is  the  separation  and  investigation  of 
some  very  curious  little  needles  which  the  mica  of 
one  of  my  rocks  contains.  Similar  needles  have  re- 
ceived considerable  attention  from  various  inves- 
tigators, but  no  one  has  as  yet  reached  any  conclu- 
sion in  regard  to  their  nature  on  account  of  the 
great  difficulty  of  isolating  them.  I  worked  with 
Rosenbusch  about  five  weeks  in  the  spring  with- 
59 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

out  any  results,  but  yesterday  we  hit  upon  a 
method  which  promises  to  be  successful,  and  I  shall 
therefore  for  the  present  be  busy  in  trying  to  carry 
it  out,  and  if  it  succeeds  it  will  be  well  worth  while. 
Rosenbusch  was  talking  yesterday  about  the  time 
of  my  examination  and  said  he  hoped  I  could  make 
it  by  the  end  of  November,  as  he  should  be  sorry 
on  my  mother's  account  if  I  were  not  home  by 
Christmas." 

(November  5.)  "I  have  been  busy  of  late  in  get- 
ting together  all  my  necessary  papers  for  the  faculty 
and  shall  hand  them  in  to  the  Decan  on  Tuesday, 
immediately  after  which  I  shall  receive  a  formal 
visit  from  the  University  beadle,  who  announces 
the  '  Termin/  or  date  on  which  my  fate  is  to  be 
decided.  It  will  be  in  about  three  weeks  from  now 
—  probably  from  to-morrow  night.  The  amount 
of  red  tape  required  is  quite  appalling.  First,  I 
must  have  a  huge  document  begging  in  the  most 
humble  terms  that  the  most  high  and  mighty  faculty 
of  the  '  Universitat '  Heidelberg  will  allow  a  poor 
worm  of  the  dust  to  be  quizzed  by  divers  professors 
on  divers  subjects  for  the  space  of  two  hours. 
Then  I  must  have  a  history  of  my  life,  beginning 
with  my  mother's  maiden  name  and  the  day  I  was 
born,  extending  to  the  present  date.  Aside  from 
these,  there  are  all  the  diplomas,  certificates,  etc., 
which  can  possibly  be  raked  together  for  my  credit, 
a  passport,  and  a  paper  from  the  police  testifying 
that  as  far  as  they  know  I  have  a  good  character 
60 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

and  have  never  been  in  the  town  jail !  All  this 
truck  I  have  at  length  assembled  and  shall  hand  it 
in  for  approval  in  a  day  or  two.  My  work  in  re- 
viewing goes  on  slowly  but  hardly  satisfactorily, 
as  it  seems  as  tho'  I  did  little  else  than  discover 
how  much  there  is  I  don't  know.  However,  that 
would  probably  be  the  case  if  I  kept  this  up  for 
a  year,  so  I  think  it 's  best  to  get  through  with  it 
as  soon  as  possible." 

To  those  who  knew  him  well  the  success  which 
he  achieved  in  his  examination  was  no  great  sur- 
prise, but  1  am  convinced  that  there  was  no  pretense 
whatever  about  his  own  astonishment.  It  was  by 
far  the  most  important  prize  heretofore  earned, 
there  being  in  the  competition  for  a  German  Uni- 
versity degree  a  certain  international  dignity  that 
gives  it  especial  value.  George  had  indeed  a 
pretty  accurate  sense  of  his  own  ability  and  powers 
of  application  in  accomplishing  a  given  task,  but 
he  gave  others  also  credit  for  possessing  the  same 
qualities  in  a  higher  degree,  so  that  in  measuring 
himself  with  them  his  modesty  forbade  him  to  in- 
dulge in  extravagant  hopes .  The  result  as  described 
in  the  letter  which  follows  was  to  him  the  seal  of 
a  long  endeavor,  the  vindication  of  a  choice  made 
not  without  misgivings  due  to  its  importance: 

(Frankfort-a-M.,  Thanksgiving  eve.)    "This  has 
been  indeed  a  day  of  most  heartfelt  thanksgiving 
61 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

for  me.  Since  my  exam,  on  Tuesday,  of  which  I 
at  once  telegraphed  you  the  result,  I  have  been  in 
such  a  constant  whirl  of  all  sorts  of  excitements 
that  I  have  only  this  day  ended  my  good-bys  to 
friends  and  taken  a  final  farewell  of  Heidelberg.  1 
rejoice  more  than  I  can  tell  that  I  have  been  able  to 
accomplish  my  examination  in  a  manner  which 
exceeded  my  fondest  hopes.  After  last  Friday  I 
hardly  opened  a  book  again,  but  spent  all  my  time 
in  walking  and  doing  everything  possible  to  refresh 
my  head  and  mind.  Monday  I  made  my  calls  upon 
the  professors  in  the  regulation  full-dress  uniform, 
inviting  them  to  be  present  at  the  examination  the 
next  evening.  Tuesday  I  passed  in  walking  and 
chatting  with  my  friends  at  the  club  until  after  five 
in  the  afternoon,  when  I  had  to  go  home  to  dress. 
At  six  I  walked  over  to  the  University  feeling  as 
well  as  I  ever  did  in  my  life  and  as  unconcerned  as 
though  I  had  been  going  for  my  usual  constitu- 
tional. 

"  About  five  minutes  past  six  I  was  ushered  by 
the  beadle  into  the  room  where  so  many  fates 
have  been  decided,  and  into  the  presence  of  the 
august  profs,  who  were  gravely  seated  about  a 
long,  green  table.  There  were  fourteen  or  fifteen 
in  all,  so  that  it  seemed  rather  an  array  for  one 
poor  fellow  to  face,  but  I  made  my  bow  and  took 
my  seat  next  to  Rosenbusch,  who  at  once  com- 
menced to  question  me  as  mercilessly  as  possible 
and  kept  it  up  until  7.15.  Then  I  was  through 
62 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

with  my  mineralogy  and  geology  and  felt  already 
as  though  the  battle  were  about  won.  After 
a  short  pause,  during  which  I  was  treated  at  the 
university's  expense  to  some  very  bad  wine,  old 
Bunsen  attacked  me  in  chemistry,  and  he  was 
followed  by  Rosenbusch,  who  finished  the  exam, 
with  a  half-hour's  quiz  in  petrography.  It  was 
very  nearly  half-past  eight  when  he  finally  said, 
'  Thank  you,  Herr  Candidat/  and  then  I  knew 
that  the  ordeal  was  over.  I  went  out  into  the  ad- 
joining room,  and  after  a  few  moments  was  ush- 
ered back  again  to  hear  the  verdict.  The  professors 
were  all  standing  in  a  row  facing  the  door  as  I  en- 
tered, and  the  Decan  walked  up  to  me  and  said  the 
faculty  would  confer  my  degree  upon  me  the  next 
morning  at  twelve  o'clock.  I  think  I  have  already 
explained  to  you  that  there  are  four  grades  given, 
although  the  title  is  in  each  case  the  same.  They 
are  distinguished  by  the  Latin  in  which  they  are 
expressed  in  the  diploma  as,  first,  '  Summa  cum 
laude ' ;  second,  '  Insignis  cum  laude '  ;  third, 
'Multa  cum  laude';  and  fourth,  'Without  pre- 
dicat/  The  number  which  is  given  is  not  an- 
nounced the  same  evening,  and  as  a  rule  the  poor 
fellow  must  wait  till  the  next  day  before  he  knows 
just  how  he  came  out.  However,  I  prevailed  upon 
the  old  beadle  to  find  out  if  possible  and  tell  me 
the  same  evening. 

"  Then  I  went  downstairs  and  was  received  by 
a  crowd  of  fifteen  fellows  who  had  assembled  to 
63 


EARLY   LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

hear  of  my  success.  I  went  home  to  change  my 
clothes  and  so  to  the  beadle's  house  to  hear  what 
he  had  learned,  and  you  may  imagine  my  surprise 
and  joy  when  he  said  (what  at  first  I  would  not 
believe)  that  they  had  really  given  me  the  first 
degree  —  a  Summa  cum  laude.  I  could  scarcely 
credit  my  ears,  but  the  next  morning,  when  I  was 
formally  invested  with  my  title  and  diploma  at  the 
University,  it  proved  to  be  quite  true.  Of  course 
I  was  generally  and  most  heartily  congratulated — 
by  no  one  more  heartily  than  by  Rosenbusch  him- 
self and  by  his  wife  —  and  I  have  done  little  since 
except  shake  hands  with  nearly  everybody  I  met  in 
the  street,  for  the  result  seemed  to  be  very  generally 
known.  Rosenbusch  has  not  given  this  degree  for 
the  past  three  years,  and  then  he  conferred  it  on 
an  American,  Dr.  Hawes.  I  will  give  you  more 
particulars  later  when  1  am  home ;  this  is  only  to 
tell  you  that  I  have  been  as  successful  as  was  in 
any  event  possible,  and  far  more  successful  than  I 
had  hoped  to  be.  I  know  there  is  no  one  who 
will  be  more  interested  or  who  will  congratulate 
me  more  sincerely  than  you,  and  there  is  certainly 
no  one  whose  congratulations  I  value  so  highly  as 
yours,  who  have  so  generously  made  my  success 
possible.".  .  . 

What  remains  of  the  externals  of  George's  life 
is  fitly  described  by  others ;  I  must  hasten  to  a 
finale  already  too  long  deferred.     His  return  to 
64 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

America  brought  him  at  once  the  employment  in 
his  cherished  profession  so  eagerly  sought,  and 
allowed  him  less  and  less  leisure  for  letters.  Dur- 
ing the  dozen  years  of  life  that  remained  to  him  he 
became  more  staid  as  responsibilities  increased, 
but  he  was  never  morbid  or  fretful  or  afflicted  with 
those  faults  of  temper  which  spring  from  nervous- 
ness and  dread.  Perhaps  the  chief  development 
to  be  noted  was  in  his  critical  faculty,  which  grew 
stronger  and  truer,  less  apt  to  miscarry  through 
enthusiasm,  than  formerly.  For  the  same  reason 
he  became  a  wise  adviser  to  his  students, as  I  once 
had  occasion  to  observe,  being  present  at  an  inter- 
view with  one  of  them  when  he  discussed  his  plans 
with  a  frankness  of  interest  that  seemed  to  bring 
the  young  man  very  near  to  him,  arousing  at  once 
that  sentiment  of  respect  and  devotion  which  is 
the  sure  proof  of  qualification  for  the  teacher's 
calling. 

On  the  whole,  a  character  of  such  transparent 
clearness  and  direct  methods  is  not  likely  to  be  in- 
trospective, nor  ought  we  to  linger  unduly  in  an 
analysis  of  one  who  was  ever  ingenuous  and  sin- 
cere. Heart-searchings  seldom  interrupted  the 
equanimity  of  his  career,  yet,  though  free  from 
false  modesty,  he  was  his  own  severest  critic. 
Weaknesses  and  sins  must  indeed  be  recognized 
and  confessed  to  secure  forgiveness,  but  the  best 
and  happiest  among  us  are  those  who,  like  George, 
rise  serenely  above  unworthy  regrets  to  happier 
9  65 


EARLY  LIFE   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

hopes  for  the  future.  Let  us  leave  him  here  with 
a  tender  expression  of  this  sentiment  written  to 
his  mother  on  his  thirty-fourth  birthday :  "  I  realize, 
as  you  say,  all  the  many  things  that  I  have  to  be 
daily  thankful  for.  If  I  stop  to  look  broadly  at  my 
life  and  surroundings  I  can  see  only  happiness  and 
joy,  and  I  am  ashamed  that  I  sometimes  let  mo- 
mentary annoyances  come  near  enough  to  obscure 
the  clearness  of  the  wider  view  —  that  I  let  the 
little  things  fret  me.  As  you  say,  too,  it  is  the 
motive  of  life  and  not  its  achievement  that  makes 
up  happiness.  I  know  that  this  must  be  so,  but 
you  and  father  have  now  come  where  you  can 
realize  it  from  your  own  experience ;  while  with 
me  there  is  often  a  longing  for  praise  from  others 
rather  than  from  my  own  consciousness." 


66 


AT  THE  UTICA   ACADEMY 

GEORGE  C.  SAWYER 

F  the  many  pupils  who  pass  through  the 
public  schools  some  few  there  are  who 
leave  behind  them  in  the  minds  of  their  in- 
structors memories  of  singular  persistence.  Among 
those  whose  record  at  the  Utica  Academy  stands 
highest,  and  who  have  left  an  enduring  name  since 
my  connection  with  this  school  for  more  than  a 
whole  generation,  I  place  George  Huntington  Will- 
iams, student  at  the  Utica  Academy,  1870  to  1874, 
and  Instructor  in  Science,  1878  to  1879.  Entering 
the  Academy  in  1870  from  the  public  grammar 
school,  our  Advanced  School,  with  high  testimo- 
nials, young  Williams  at  once  took  and  maintained 
a  first-rate  stand.  The  especial  notes  of  his  school 
career  were  constant  assiduity  and  intelligent  pur- 
pose, combined  with  an  individuality  remarkable 
in  a  schoolboy.  As  well  as  single  pupils,  so  also 
there  are  classes  that  abide  in  the  Principal's  recol- 
lection long  after  their  school  career  is  closed. 

Notable  was  this  in  the  instance  of  the  class  of 
'74  of  our  Academy.  I  recall  distinctly  after  the 
lapse  of  twenty  years  the  names  and  faces  of  cer- 
tain bright,  intelligent,  scholarly  boys  and  girls 
who  composed  that  class.  Each  recitation  hour 
67 


AT  THE   UTICA   ACADEMY 

in  the  classics  in -my  room  was  the  occasion  of  ac- 
tive struggle  with  the  niceties  and  intricacies  of 
the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  wherein  each  stu- 
dent vied  with  the  other  as  to  who  should  bring 
forward  from  the  rich  storehouse  of  antiquity,  at 
the  fitting  moment,  whatever  might  pertain  to 
the  elucidation  of  the  lesson  of  the  day,  whether 
of  philology,  mythology,  rhetoric,  history,  or  geog- 
raphy. In  this  last-mentioned  department  I  re- 
member, as  though  of  yesterday,  the  map  of 
Athens  which  George  brought  into  the  class.  This 
was,  in  its  line,  perhaps  the  best  piece  of  work 
ever  produced  in  the  school,  and  prefigured  in  its 
accuracy,  faithfulness  of  detail  and  finish,  the  char- 
acteristics of  his  work  in  the  specific  subjects  of  his 
professional  after-life.  I  recollect,  too,  the  genuine 
and  evident  satisfaction  with  which  he  told  me  on 
his  return  from  his  student  residence  abroad  that 
this  geographical  study  had  stood  him  in  good 
stead,  since,  on  his  visit  to  Athens,  he  knew  just 
where  to  locate  each  topographical  feature  of  that 
ancient  city,  the  object  of  his  enthusiasm  and  rever- 
ence. Although  he  did  equally  well  in  the  Mathe- 
matics and  Sciences,  I  dwell  especially  upon  the 
foregoing  studies,  as  he  was  brought  by  them 
more  under  my  own  personal  observation.  In- 
deed, one  could  scarcely  have  predicted  while  at 
the  Academy,  until  perhaps  in  the  half  year  of 
his  teaching  there,  in  what  direction  his  life-work 
might  ultimately  lie. 

68 


AT  THE   UTICA   ACADEMY 

While  full  always  of  the  real  business  of  his 
school  duties,  and  ever  moving,  even  at  this  early 
age,  on  a  high  plane  of  thoughtful  and  serious  en- 
deavor, he  was  at  the  same  time  of  a  pleasant  and 
even  playful  disposition.  Never  giving  his  teachers 
the  slightest  cause  to  complain  of  his  conduct  or 
manners,  he  was  so  interested  in  his  studies  and  in 
everything  pertaining  to  his  school  that  it  seemed 
as  though  it  were  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world  for  him  to  make  it  the  joyful  centre  of  his 
thoughts  and  energies. 

His  oration  at  graduation,  with  the  Valedictory 
of  his  class,  on  the  "Law  of  Progress/'  was  a  seri- 
ous, intellectual  effort,  expressing  a  deep  sense  of 
the  future  that  was  opening  before  him  and  his 
classmates  with  its  hopes  and  its  responsibilities. 

Keeping  close  to  the  account  of  that  portion  of 
his  life  spent  at  the  Utica  Academy,  George's  next 
connection  with  it  was  during  the  year  after  his 
graduation  from  Amherst.  The  gap  of  nearly 
three-quarters  of  this  year,  which  intervened  be- 
tween the  end  of  his  College  course  and  his  stu- 
dent life  abroad,  was  filled  by  him  as  instructor  in 
the  Science  department  of  the  Utica  Academy.  To 
these  duties  he  brought  a  freshness  and  vigor 
which  at  once  stimulated  his  classes  and  carried 
them  onward  successfully,  while  his  personal  in- 
fluence, quiet  and  unforced,  commanded  their  re- 
spect and  affection.  Thus,  in  this  new  and  trying 
field  of  labor,  he  showed  the  same  marked  quali- 
69 


AT  THE   UTICA   ACADEMY 

ties  as  a  teacher  which  afterward  distinguished 
him  in  his  connection  with  more  advanced  stu- 
dents as  Professor  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

He  kept  his  classes  close  up  to  the  mark  of  an 
unusually  high  standard,  and  left,  somewhat  un- 
pectedly,  before  the  close  of  the  school  year,  in 
pursuance  of  his  plan  of  foreign  study,  much  to 
the  regret  and  followed  by  the  best  wishes  of 
students  and  fellow-teachers. 

Personally,  at  this  time,  I  predicted  the  promi- 
nence George  was  sure  to  reach  in  the  higher  walks 
of  science  to  which  he  was  now  determined  to  de- 
vote his  energies.  To  one  so  deeply  interested 
as  myself  it  became  a  source  of  great  satisfaction 
to  watch  him  as  a  young  man  in  his  growing  ma- 
turity, pursuing  that  steady  course  of  progress  by 
means  of  which  he  was  making  a  name  already  on 
a  level  with  the  ablest  in  his  own  department  of 
research.  It  was  a  gratification  at  the  time,  as 
it  will  always  be  a  source  of  peculiar  satisfaction, 
that  I  was  able,  the  spring  before  his  death,  to  make 
my  friend,  the  Professor,  a  long-promised  visit,  and 
to  see  him  in  his  room  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity, occupied  with  his  official  duties,  from  which 
he  was  so  soon  to  be  snatched  away  in  the  very 
midst  of  his  promise. 

A  superior  intellect  has  passed  out  of  our  pre- 
sent sight — a  clear-sighted  and  high-minded  soul, 
to  whom  fittingly  applies  the  Horatian  motto : 

Integer  vitae  scelerisque  purus. 
70 


LIFE  AT  AMHERST  COLLEGE 

BENJAMIN  KENDALL  EMERSON, 

Hitchcock  Professor  of  Geology  in  Amherst  College. 

|EORGE  WILLIAMS  entered  the  class  of  '78 
in  Amherst  College  in  September,  1874, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen.  He  came  well 
prepared  and  took  the  Porter  prize  of  that  year,  an 
important  prize  given  for  the  best  entrance  exam- 
ination. He  roomed  alone  during  Freshman  year, 
and  for  the  three  following  years  his  room-mate 
was  Mr.  Frank  Lusk  Babbott,  now  of  Brooklyn, 
then  of  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  from  whom  I  have  ob- 
tained many  of  the  facts  of  the  earlier  portion  of 
Williams's  college-life. 

He  joined  the  Alpha  Delta  Phi  Society,  and  was 
a  most  loyal  member.  He  had  strong  social  in- 
stincts, and  was  very  fond  of  attending  any  enter- 
tainment where  he  would  meet  interesting  people. 
Opportunities  of  this  sort  were  not  then  so  frequent 
at  Amherst  as  now,  but  many  homes  were  open 
to  him  both  here  and  in  Northampton,  and  I  have 
heard  of  times  when  the  young  men  of  his  set  re- 
paid their  social  debts  to  the  young  ladies  in  famous 
entertainments  at  Northampton,  where  the  ladies 
71 


LIFE   AT  AMHERST  COLLEGE 

of  the  Amherst  College  families  were  glad  to  serve 
as  patronesses. 

He  had  for  such  occasions  very  attractive  man- 
ners, and  that  refinement,  which,  while  largely 
inherited,  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  life  he  had 
led  during  youth,  on  account  of  his  feeble  health. 
A  certain  quiet  reserve  marked  his  college  years, 
giving  place  later  to  an  easier  and  more  demon- 
strative manner.  Out  of  this,  and  of  the  beauty 
of  young  manhood,  which  was  his  in  an  excep- 
tional degree,  arose  the  student  name  of  "The 
Archangel,"  by  which  he  was  well  known  by  his 
classmates.  My  wife  writes  as  follows  concern- 
ing him  at  this  time : 

"  I  wish  I  could  make  a  vivid  pen-picture  of 
George  Williams  as  I  first  saw  him,  and  as  mem- 
ory still  often  recalls  him,  a  more  intimate  know- 
ledge of  his  maturer  face  never  having  obliterated 
that  first  impression.  It  was  during  his  Sopho- 
more year  in  College,  and  he  came  to  our  door  on 
an  errand. 

"As  the  bell  rang,  I  happened  to  be  standing 
near  the  door  and  opened  it  myself,  and  was 
greeted  by  a  picture  of  brilliant  boyish  beauty. 
His  face,  much  fuller  then  than  when  I  saw  it 
later,  still  retained  something  of  the  roundness  of 
childhood.  He  was  wholly  a  stranger  to  me  and 
I  learned  his  name  as  he  left  it  with  his  message, 
but  I  was  impressed  by  what  seemed  to  me  a  glo- 
rious beauty  and  his  charming  refinement  of  man- 
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LIFE   AT   AMHERST  COLLEGE 

ner.  Later,  when  he  was  an  inmate  of  our  house, 
I  came  to  love  as  well  as  to  admire  his  face.  As 
he  matured  it  changed  greatly,  the  loss  of  color  and 
of  luxuriant  hair,  and  the  wearing  of  glasses,  ob- 
literating much  that  was  striking  during  earlier 
life.  But  always  the  lines  and  the  expression  grew 
keener  and  more  attractive,  and,  as  I  saw  him  only 
on  occasions  widely  separated  in  time,  I  noted, 
with  delight,  the  increasing  beauty  of  maturer 
thought  and  experience.  Yet  the  bright,  rosy,  boy 
face,  under  the  jaunty  fur  cap,  is  a  very  pleasant 
memory." 

He  was  always  an  earnest  and  hard  working 
student,  careful  in  his  preparation  of  the  work  for 
the  day,  and  particularly  so  in  his  preparation  for 
examinations  ;  and  it  was  his  habit  at  the  end  of 
a  course  to  make  a  written  synopsis  of  the  work, 
and,  after  memorizing  this,  to  proceed  to  details, 
Thus  he  early  acquired  methodical  habits  and  a 
love  of  work.  He  stood  always  in  the  first  half 
dozen  of  his  class,  ranking  highest  in  science  and 
mathematics.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  in  the  middle  of  his  Junior 
year. 

In  the  first  of  his  course  there  was  no  sign  of 
specialization,  but  each  study  was  prepared  con- 
scientiously. For  two  years  a  small  Shakspere 
club  met  in  his  room,  and  all  his  literary  work  in 
his  society  and  in  the  college  was  well  and  carefully 
prepared.  Until  the  middle  of  Junior  year  he  was 

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LIFE   AT   AMHERST   COLLEGE 

much  in  doubt  as  to  what  vocation  he  should  fol- 
low, and  his  mind  turned  most  frequently  to  that 
of  architecture. 

"During  this  time/'  his  room-mate  writes  me, 
"  we  had  very  often  in  our  rooms  important  works 
upon  art  and  architecture,  to  which  George  gave 
many  of  his  leisure  moments.  His  natural  aptitude 
with  the  pen  and  pencil  made  this  work  seem  very 
attractive  to  him,  and  I  thought,  before  he  began 
the  study  of  the  sciences,  that  he  would  take  a  course 
in  architecture  after  leaving  Amherst.  His  work 
in  zoology  and  geology  seemed  to  awaken  greater 
enthusiasm  than,  any  other  studies  in  his  course. 
It  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  use  his  pencil  as 
well  as  to  do  the  most  careful  thinking,  and  those 
branches  were  then  begun  with  a  zest  which  he 
never  relinquished/' 

The  division  in  zoology  that  year  was  an  excep- 
tionally strong  one.  The  anatomical  drawings  of 
invertebrates  were  elaborate  and  artistic,  and  Wil- 
liams, who  in  any  other  division  would  have  been 
without  a  rival,  was  rivaled  by  only  one  man.  The 
work  in  crystallography  attracted  him  immediately, 
and  he  did  a  large  amount  of  extra  work  in  the 
classification  and  arrangement  of  minerals.  He 
had  already  attracted  my  attention  as  a  possible 
geologist,  and  I  set  him  much  work  with  the  pur- 
pose of  favoring  this  result. 

His  interest  in  geology  was  maintained  through 
Senior  year,  and  he  received  the  Shepard  prize  in 
74 


LIFE   AT  AMHERST   COLLEGE 

mineralogy.  He  returned  to  Amherst  for  a  post- 
graduate year  of  study  in  zoology,  and  he  was, 
during  this  time,  a  member  of  my  family. 

During  the  autumn,  his  task  consisted  of  the 
study  and  mapping  of  the  post-tertiary  deposits 
within  a  radius  often  miles  of  Amherst,  and  in  the 
progress  of  the  work  I  had  opportunity  to  watch 
the  intelligence  and  skill  with  which  he  acquired 
the  new  methods  of  research,  and  years  after  it 
gave  me  great  pleasure  to  present  to  his  wife  the 
artistic  map  which  he  prepared  as  the  result  of  his 
season's  work. 

In  the  winter  I  set  him  to  select  from  the  great 
mass  of  duplicates  of  the  college  as  complete  a  col- 
lection of  living  invertebrates  as  possible,  and  to 
name,  classify  and  arrange  them,  as  a  preparation 
for  a  corresponding  study  of  the  fossils  of  the  older 
formations,  which  he  took  up  later.  He  also,  un- 
der my  direction,  and  in  conjunction  with  my 
assistant,  Professor  John  Mason  Clarke,  now  of  the 
New  York  State  Museum,  devoted  much  time  to 
the  arrangement  of  the  collections  of  Smith  College. 

He  left  Amherst  before  the  completion  of  the 
year  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  teaching  force  in  the 
academy  at  Utica,  and  then  went  to  Europe  for 
further  study. 

I  took  a  teacher's  delight  in  the  earnest  and  me- 
thodical ways  of  the  young  man,  in  his  keen  and 
outspoken  criticism,  his  high  enthusiasm,  and  in 
marking  how  a  strong  artistic  sense  and  a  feeling 
75 


LIFE   AT  AMHERST  COLLEGE 

for  proportion  molded  all  his  work.  It  was  a 
pleasure  at  first  to  guide  him,  and  then  to  watch 
his  further  study  in  Europe,  and  his  subsequent 
career  at  home. 

As  the  young  man,  who  had  been  my  scientific 
son,  became  in  the  maturity  of  his  power  my  sci- 
entific brother,  the  sympathy  born  of  kindred  pur- 
suits and  long  acquaintance  grew  very  strong  be- 
tween us,  and  made  me  value  most  highly  our 
infrequent  meetings.  My  return  from  a  long  jour- 
ney was  clouded  by  the  news  of  his  sudden  de- 
parture, with  whom  I  had  hoped  to  live  over  all 
the  scientific  experiences  of  many  months. 

Amherst  College,  which  had  a  large  share  in 
nurturing  him,  shares  with  the  University  to  which 
she  gave  him,  and  where  his  brief  and  rich  life 
was  spent,  in  the  joy  that  he  was  able  to  do  so 
much,  and  in  the  sorrow  that  long  years  of  good 
work  were  not  allotted  him. 


76 


HIS  WORK  AS  A  PROFESSOR 

WILLLIAM  BULLOCK  CLARK 

|S5||||HEN  George  Huntington  Williams  returned 
ill  to  America,  at  the  close  of  1882,  after 
as^ls  nearly  four  years  spent  in  German  Uni- 
versities in  preparation  for  his  chosen  profession,  he 
had  in  view  no  definite  field  of  scientific  activity,  but 
during  a  visit  to  Baltimore  in  the  following  March 
he  was  offered  and  accepted  the  position  of  Fellow 
by  Courtesy  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University.  Al- 
though there  was  at  that  time  no  instruction  in 
Geology  in  that  institution,  and  the  position  of- 
fered to  Dr.  Williams  did  not  admit  him  to  the 
Academic  staff,  it  afforded  just  the  opportunity 
which  he  desired  to  take  up  work  in  this  country 
in  the  department  of  Microscopical  Petrography, 
that  new  field  of  geological  investigation  which 
he  was  to  be  the  first  to  introduce  to  American 
students. 

At  the  opening  of  the  following  academic  year, 
in  the  autumn  of  1883,  Dr.  Williams  was  made 
an  Associate  in  the  Faculty  of  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  and  from  that  time  forward  began  to 
collect  about  him  a  body  of  enthusiastic  pupils. 
77 


HIS   WORK   AS  A   PROFESSOR 

His  success  was  so  pronounced  from  the  beginning 
that  his  advancement  came  rapidly.  In  1885  ne 
became  Associate  Professor,  and  in  1 892  was  made 
Professor  of  Inorganic  Geology. 

From  his  very  entrance  into  the  service  of  the 
University,  Dr.  Williams  had  directed  his  attention 
to  a  study  of  the  geology  of  Maryland,  more  espe- 
cially the  Piedmont  area  lying  to  the  west  of  Balti- 
more. Although  this  study  was  productive  of 
numerous  scientific  contributions,  yet  the  oppor- 
tunities for  investigation  were  valued  less  as  a  field 
for  personal  research  than  as  nature's  laboratory  in 
which  young  men  might  be  trained  in  the  most 
exact  methods  of  scientific  investigation.  In  the 
situation  of  the  University  Dr.  Williams  was  most 
fortunate.  Readily  accessible  by  short  excursions, 
he  found  representatives  of  all  the  main  divisions 
of  the  geological  column,  making  it  possible  con- 
stantly to  illustrate  the  courses  of  instruction  by 
actual  examination  of  the  materials  discussed. 
This  added  greatly  to  the  effectiveness  of  the 
teacher's  words,  and  not  a  little  to  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  students  entered  into  the  work  of 
geological  research.  At  times  longer  expeditions 
were  made  across  the  State  in  cooperation  with 
others  to  study  the  structure  of  the  mountainous 
area  of  the  Appalachian  belt,  or  the  coastal  form- 
ations of  the  Chesapeake  Bay  region. 

Very  early  in  the  study  of  the  local  geology  Dr. 
Williams  interested  himself  in  the  perfection  of 
78 


HIS   WORK  AS   A   PROFESSOR 

the  existing  maps,  in  order  that  a  suitable  basis 
might  be  had  for  the  platting  of  the  geological  data 
which  he  and  his  students  were  rapidly  accumu- 
lating. The  Field  Club  map  of  the  Baltimore  Na- 
turalists' Field  Club,  embracing  an  area  of  625 
square  miles,  with  Baltimore  as  a  center,  was  di- 
vided by  Dr.  Williams  into  twenty-five  sections. 
The  plan  which  he  devised  is  described  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "  These  sections  are  to  be  worked 
out  separately,  although  of  course  according  to  a 
uniform  plan  ;  and  each  is  to  be  accompanied  by  a 
separate  text  to  contain  descriptions  of  the  geology 
and  petrography  of  its  area,  as  well  as  explanations 
of  the  relationship  of  these  to  those  of  the  adjoin- 
ing sheets. 

"It  is  believed  that  this  method  of  work  will 
prove  of  increased  value  to  the  student  by  allow- 
ing him,  after  securing  a  general  idea  of  the  geol- 
ogy of  the  whole  region,  to  confine  his  attention 
to  special  work  in  a  particular  field,  and  by  incit- 
ing him  to  make  a  permanent  contribution  to  the 
geological  map  as  a  whole.  Such  material  upon 
one  or  more  sections  will  form  acceptable  material 
for  a  thesis  for  the  Doctor's  Degree." 

This  plan  was  carried  out  for  a  time  until  the 
map  was  supplanted  by  the  new  topographic  sheets 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  when  the 
scope  of  the  work  was  extended  into  more  distant 
portions  of  the  State. 

While  engaged  primarily  in  the  study  of  local 

79 


HIS   WORK   AS   A   PROFESSOR 

geology,  Dr.  Williams  took  up  other  problems  dur- 
ing his  absence  from  Baltimore  in  vacation  time, 
collecting  data  and  specimens  that  formed  the  basis 
for  subsequent  examinations  in  the  laboratory  of 
the  University.  In  all  of  these  investigations  his 
students  were  closely  identified  with  him,  and 
gained  much  from  the  almost  daily  association  that 
was  thus  afforded  them.  His  home  was  always 
open  to  them,  and  many  evenings  were  spent  in 
social  intercourse  and  in  informal  readings  upon 
geological  subjects. 

A  far  more  permanent  result  of  this  constant 
personal  contact  was  the  firm  bond  of  sympathy 
which  was  formed  between  instructor  and  pupil, 
and  which  lasted  beyond  University  days.  As 
successes  and  honors  came  from  time  to  time  to 
those  who  had  been  thus  closely  associated  with 
him,  his  pleasure  and  satisfaction  were  most  pro- 
nounced. Their  interests  were  always  his  interests 
and  remained  so  to  the  end. 

As  an  instructor,  Professor  Williams  had  few 
equals.  His  enthusiastic  delivery  in  the  class- 
room lecture  made  the  most  abstruse  subject  fas- 
cinating, while  his  lucid  interpretation  of  difficult 
points  inspired  the  confidence  of  those  who  heard 
him.  There  was  scarcely  anything  connected  with 
his  scientific  career  which  gave  him  so  much  pleas- 
ure as  his  class-room  duties,  since  he  had  an  in- 
structive appreciation  of  his  ability  as  a  teacher, 
and  enjoyed  the  manifest  interest  which  he  unfail- 
80 


HIS   WORK   AS  A   PROFESSOR 

ingly  aroused.  Those  who  have  listened  to  his 
lectures  will  not  soon  forget  his  power. 

The  natural  instincts  of  the  teacher  are  shown 
in  the  character  of  many  of  his  publications,  which 
were  of  a  more  or  less  pedagogical  nature.  Many 
of  these  had  their  inspiration  in  the  requirements 
of  his  own  classes,  while  others  came  from  a  de- 
sire to  more  widely  give  influence  to  the  ideas 
which  he  entertained.  In  the  former  category 
may  be  mentioned  his  "  Elements  of  Crystallogra- 
phy/' while  in  the  latter  were  his  "  Modern  Geog- 
raphy" in  Heath's  Monographs  on  Education, 
"  Some  Modern  Aspects  of  Geology"  in  The  Popu- 
lar Science  Monthly,  and  "The  Microscope,  and 
the  Study  of  the  Crystalline  Schists"  in  Science. 

But  the  services  of  Professor  Williams  to  the 
University  were  not  confined  to  his  immediate  du- 
ties in  the  class-room  or  even  to  his  wider  influ- 
ence as  a  writer  upon  geological  subjects,  those 
attainments  which  more  particularly  characterize 
him  as  teacher.  He  was,  in  addition  to  all  these, 
a  gifted  public  speaker,  and  on  many  occasions 
has  been  asked  to  talk  before  scientific  institutions 
and  societies,  twice  being  called  upon  to  deliver 
addresses  before  his  own  University  upon  Anni- 
versary days. 

His  first  formal  public  lectures  were  given  in 

January,  1885,  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University, 

the  course  consisting  of  three  lectures  and  entitled 

"  The  Present  Aspect  of  Inorganic  Geology."     In 

"  81 


HIS   WORK   AS   A   PROFESSOR 

January,  1887,  ne  again  gave  a  public  lecture  "On 
the  Geology  of  the  Region  about  Baltimore  "  in  a 
course  upon  the  natural  history  of  the  area,  in 
which  many  of  the  scientific  staff  of  the  University 
participated. 

The  following  year  he  delivered  one  of  the  Sat- 
urday lectures  at  the  United  States  National  Mu- 
seum, under  the  auspices  of  the  Scientific  Societies 
of  Washington,  upon  "The  Microscope  in  Geol- 
ogy/' In  June  of  the  same  year  he  was  asked  to 
give  the  Commencement  address  before  the  Wor- 
cester Polytechnic  Institute,  and  chose  for  his  sub- 
ject, "  Some  Modern  Aspects  of  Geology/'  This 
was  one  of  the  best  of  his  public  utterances,  and  in 
it  he  presented  clearly  his  conception  of  his  own 
science,  while  at  the  same  time  in  his  broader  gen- 
eralizations he  set  forth  what  he  regarded  as  the 
true  scientific  basis  of  technical  training. 

Early  in  1 890,  Professor  Williams  gave  two  pub- 
lic lectures  at  the  Peabody  Institute,  Baltimore, 
upon  "The  Geology  of  Maryland"  and  "Moun- 
tains." 

Other  public  lectures  and  addresses  followed, 
but  the  most  important  were  those  delivered  on 
Anniversary  days  before  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity. The  first  of  these  was  given  on  Febru- 
ary 22,  1892,  and  was  entitled  "  A  University  and 
its  Natural  Environment/' 

In  introducing  the  theme,  he  said :  "  The  two 
parts  of  my  subject — A  University  and  its  Na- 
82 


HIS   WORK   AS   A    PROFESSOR 

tural  Environment — appear,  at  first  glance,  to  be 
but  remotely  connected.  Have  not  Universities, 
it  will  be  asked,  in  all  ages  flourished  amid  most 
diverse  surroundings  ?  This  is  indeed  true  ;  and 
yet,  while  not  claiming  for  natural  environment  a 
paramount  importance  in  University  development, 
I  desire  to  show  that  the  accident  of  location  brings, 
to  certain  departments  at  least,  questions  of  vital 
import.  If  the  environment  be  favorable,  the  ad- 
vantages resulting  therefrom  are  incalculable  ;  but 
with  them  come  responsibilities  which  no  Uni- 
versity can  either  ignore  or  shirk/' 

In  the  course  of  his  address,  speaking  of  the  ma- 
terials with  which  the  different  departments  of  a 
University  deal,  he  said  :  "  There  are  certain  lines 
of  University  work  which  are  very  sensitive  to, 
nay,  well-nigh  conditioned  by,  their  natural  envi- 
ronment. If  this  offers  what  is  necessary,  they 
are  fortunate ;  but  if  it  be  unfavorable,  they  must 
remove  to  a  more  suitable  locality,  or  suffer  their 
success  to  be  proportionately  impaired.  Among 
all  the  departments  of  human  knowledge  which  it 
is  the  sphere  of  the  University  to  encourage,  there 
is  none  more  dependent  on  the  accident  of  geo- 
graphical location  than  Geology/' 

Referring  to  the  influence  of  this  environment 
upon  many  of  the  great  University  centers  of  Eu- 
rope, he  spoke  as  follows  regarding  the  unparal- 
leled surroundings  of  Baltimore  in  this  respect. 
He  said:  "Thus  it  is  that  by  a  fortunate  geo- 
83 


HIS   WORK   AS   A   PROFESSOR 

graphical  location  the  10,000  square  miles  of 
Maryland's  area  contain  a  representative  of  every 
geological  period,  from  the  earliest  to  that  now  in 
progress.  Indeed,  we  may  say,  without  exagger- 
ation, that  no  State  in  the  Union  contains  a  fuller 
geologic  sequence,  and  there  are  few  areas  of  like  ex- 
tent in  the  world  where  the  record  is  so  complete/' 

In  the  later  address,  given  the  following  year, 
under  the  title  of  "  Recent  Studies  of  the  State  of 
Maryland/'  he  still  further  showed  the  importance 
of  the  scientific  work  of  the  University  to  the  com- 
munity. It  was  this  appreciation  of  the  interde- 
pendence of  the  University  and  the  State  in  the  field 
of  geological  research  which  led  to  the  inaugura- 
tion of  many  lines  of  investigation  that  brought 
the  University  into  practical  touch  with  the  people 
and  proved  of  advantage  to  each. 

As  the  greater  proportion  of  Professor  Williams' 
investigations  was  carried  on  within  the  limits  of 
the  State,  so  his  scientific  writings  largely  deal  di- 
rectly with  its  geology.  Collectively  they  form 
the  most  extensive  contribution  of  any  single  in- 
vestigator in  that  field,  and  any  future  work  along 
the  lines  which  he  inaugurated  will  of  necessity  be 
based  upon  his  results. 

Through  his  work  upon  the  geology  of  the  Pied- 
mont belt  not  alone  have  we  acquired  a  scientific 
understanding  of  its  structure,  but  also  a  practical 
knowledge  of  its  various  mineral  products  that 
must  prove  of  lasting  value  to  the  State. 
84 


HIS   WORK   AS  A   PROFESSOR 

In  many  of  his  contributions  a  discussion  of  the 
economic  resources  has  found  place,  while  two 
publications,  prepared  in  conjunction  with  others, 
deal  largely  with  that  phase  of  the  subject.  One 
of  these  was  the  guide-book  prepared  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers 
held  in  Baltimore,  February,  1892,  in  which  was 
incorporated  the  geological  and  economic  map  of 
Baltimore  and  vicinity,  embodying  the  results  of 
work  carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey. 

A  much  more  comprehensive  publication  was 
that  prepared  by  Professor  Williams  upon  the  geol- 
ogy and  economic  resources  of  the  State,  for  the 
World's  Fair  Book  of  Maryland.  For  this  volume 
he  prepared  a  geological  map,  which,  as  he  stated, 
was  "  compiled  from  all  existing  sources  of  infor- 
mation, and  contains  the  result  of  much  geological 
work  within  the  confines  of  the  State  which  has 
never  before  been  published."  Although  recog- 
nizing its  incomplete  character  he  says,  "It 
thoroughly  represents  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge  and  will  serve  as  a  definite  point  of 
departure  for  future  work  by  showing  where  the 
existing  data  are  least  satisfactory/'  As  the  second 
geological  map  of  Maryland,  the  first  having  been 
prepared  by  P.  T.  Tyson,  in  1860,  it  deserves 
great  credit  and  marks  a  distinct  advance  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  geology  and  mineral  products 
of  the  State. 

85 


HIS   WORK   AS   A   PROFESSOR 

Thus  in  every  way  Professor  Williams  strove  to 
show  the  value  of  the  scientific  work  of  the  Uni- 
versity to  the  community,  and,  in  so  doing,  aided 
largely  in  cementing  those  feelings  of  good  will 
which  exist  between  the  Johns  Hopkins  University 
and  the  people  of  the  State. 

In  all  his  relations  to  the  University  during  the 
twelve  years  he  was  connected  with  it,  Professor 
Williams  sought  its  advancement  with  a  loyalty 
which  was  cordially  appreciated  by  all  friends  of 
the  institution. 


86 


HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

JOSEPH  PAXSON  IDDINGS 


F  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  adequately 
review  the  numerous  papers  and  longer 
writings  by  Professor  Williams  which 
have  been  published  during  his  short  career  as  an 
investigator.  Although  twelve  years  only  elapsed 
between  his  graduation  at  Heidelberg  and  his  death, 
the  list  of  his  publications,  which  is  appended  to 
this  memorial,  shows  remarkable  activity.  Few 
articles  were  published  in  more  than  one  place  ; 
though,  of  course,  there  were  preliminary  notices 
of  work  that  afterwards  appeared  in  complete  and 
elaborate  form.  Any  one  who  attempts  to  review 
carefully  all  of  the  publications,  and  who  considers 
the  many  reviews  written  by  Professor  Williams 
for  journals  in  this  country,  and  for  the  "  Neues 
Jahrbuch  fur  Mineralogie,  Geologic  und  Palaeon- 
tologie,"  in  Germany,  to  which  latter  journal  he  con- 
tributed sixty-eight  reviews  between  the  years 
1 884  and  1 890,  must  be  impressed  with  the  amount 
of  work  Professor  Williams  accomplished,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  faithfully  executed  duties  as  an  instructor 
in  the  University. 

87 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

These  are  convincing  evidences  of  his  ceaseless 
industry,  a  characteristic  that  was  well  known  to 
all  who  were  intimately  associated  with  him.  It 
showed  itself  in  his  habit  of  devoting  any  moment, 
however  short  or  interrupted,  to  reading  some  new 
publication,  or  to  writing  notes  upon  his  work. 
Nor  is  it  simply  the  constant  application,  and  the 
volume  of  the  matter,  that  compel  our  admiration. 
Much  more  important  and  admirable  are  the  quali- 
ties of  the  work  and  the  methods  employed  in  its 
execution.  The  subject  matter  is  good,  and  often 
bears  directly  upon  essential  principles.  Its  ex- 
pression is  concise  and  clear ;  full  enough  to  avoid 
ambiguity,  and  definite  enough  to  permit  one  to 
judge  whether  a  statement  is  to  be  taken  as  an  es- 
tablished fact,  a  reasonable  hypothesis,  or  a  tenta- 
tive suggestion.  The  arrangement  of  the  material 
is  such  as  to  strengthen  the  argument ;  while  his 
ability  to  delineate  objects,  and  his  artistic  sense, 
greatly  aid  the  manner  of  its  presentation.  The 
effectiveness  of  his  labors  was  very  largely  in- 
creased, no  doubt,  by  his  systematic  methods  of 
work.  His  notes  were  well  written,  orderly  ar- 
ranged, and  usually  quite  full.  And  he  had  the  en- 
viable habit  of  finishing  up  work  as  he  went  along. 
His  executive  ability  was  well  developed  and  unos- 
tentatious. Any  one  associated  with  him  was 
aware  of  the  fact  that  he  was  very  busy,  but  was 
not  called  upon  to  recognize  the  fact  that  his  busi- 
ness was  very  important.  The  absence  of  egotism 
88 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

is  noticeable  in  his  writings,  and  has  been  com- 
mented upon  by  an  English  correspondent.  His 
interest  was  always  concentrated  on  the  object  of 
his  investigation,  which  is  not  only  evident  in  his 
writings,  but  was  more  apparent  in  his  conversa- 
tions about  his  work.  Any  personal  ambitions  he 
might,  with  perfect  propriety,  have  entertained, 
were  not  noticeable  to  his  most  intimate  associates. 
And,  judging  from  the  freedom  with  which  he 
shared  most  of  his  thoughts  with  his  closest  friends, 
it  is  probable  he  would  have  expressed  his  reasona- 
ble hopes  of  honorable  recognition,  if  they  had  been 
prominently  in  his  mind.  Honors  that  came  to 
him  were  unsought,  but  not  unappreciated.  The 
approbation  of  those  able  to  judge  must  always  be 
cherished  by  one  who  is  not  dominated  by  a  feel- 
ing of  infallibility  and  self-sufficiency. 

It  is  not  for  the  present  writer  to  attempt  a  ju- 
dicial estimate  of  the  publications  of  Professor 
Williams.  Not  only  would  such  an  attitude  be  pre- 
sumptuous on  his  part,  but  the  possibility  of  form- 
ing a  correct  estimate  of  the  work  is  denied  one 
who  has  stood  in  such  close  relationship  to  the 
worker.  A  proper  estimate  can  only  come  from 
some  one  whose  ability  is  unquestioned,  and  whose 
remoteness  from  the  object  is  sufficient  to  permit 
a  more  comprehensive  view  of  its  proportions. 

A  very  brief  and  incomplete  sketch  is  all  the 
writer  has  to  offer,  and  in  so  doing  he  cannot  but 
feel  how  inadequate  it  will  be  to  convey  anything 
12  89 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

like  a  fair  conception  of  the  extent  and  merits  of 
Professor  Williams'  published  work.  It  is  scarcely 
more  than  a  mention  of  what  he  has  written. 
Fortunately  the  articles  themselves  are  accessible 
to  all  students,  and  are  endowed  with  a  lasting  vi- 
tality that  enables  them  to  live  beyond  the  memory 
of  the  personality  that  created  them,  and  to  speak 
for  themselves  so  long  as  they  can  be  of  service. 

His  first  contribution  to  petrography  was  a  de- 
scription of  "  Glaucophane-rocks  from  Northern 
Italy/'  published  in  1882,  the  material  having  been 
collected  during  an  excursion  into  that  country 
while  a  student  at  Heidelberg.  This  was  followed 
in  1883  by  his  Inaugural  Dissertation  on  "The 
Rocks  of  the  Neighborhood  of  Tryberg  in  the  Black 
Forest/'  in  which  he  describes  the  geological  oc- 
currence and  petrographical  characters  of  the  gneiss 
and  granite,  and  of  the  acid  and  basic  dike-rocks 
of  the  region.  In  this  paper  we  recognize  the 
thoroughness  and  care  which  characterize  all  his 
subsequent  work.  Upon  his  return  to  this  coun- 
try in  the  fall  of  1882  he  at  once  found  a  position  in 
the  Johns  Hopkins  University  as  an  associate  in  the 
chemical  department  under  Professor  Remsen,  his 
duties  being  those  of  instructor  in  crystallography 
and  mineralogy.  No  provision  was  at  that  time 
made  for  the  development  of  petrology  and  of  geol- 
ogy, except  as  he  might  himself  provide.  Accept- 
ing the  situation,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
existing  conditions,  and  contributed  to ' '  The  Amer- 
90 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

ican  Chemical  Journal "  a  review  of  Fouque  and 
Michel-Levy's  work  on  The  Synthesis  of  Minerals 
and  Rocks,  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  impor- 
tance of  synthetical  methods  in  the  development 
of  science,   and  what  had  already  been  accom- 
plished in  this  direction  for  mineralogy  and  petrol- 
ogy.    He  also  published  in  the  same  journal  an 
article  on  the  relations  of  crystallography  to  chem- 
istry, calling  attention  to  the  fundamental  connec- 
tion which  must  exist  between  the  chemical  mole- 
cule and  the  various  physical  properties  developed 
in  any  crystallized  compound,  including  the  crys- 
tallographic  form.    In  this  way  he  showed  the  im- 
portance of  crystallography  as  an  adjunct  to  chem- 
istry, and  the  field  that  lay  open  to  workers  in 
physical  chemistry.     Subsequently  he  contributed 
to  the  same  journal  articles  on  the  crystal  form  of 
metallic  cadmium  and  of  metallic  zinc,  the  latter  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  W.  M.  Burton.     He  at  once 
began  work  on  the  geology  of  the  region  surround- 
ing Baltimore,  and  in  the  spring  of  1884  he  pub- 
lished in  the  Johns  Hopkins  "University  Circular" 
a  preliminary  notice  of  the  gabbros  and  associated 
hornblende  rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  Baltimore,  and 
later  a  note  on  the  so-called  quartz-porphyry  of 
Hollins  Station,  north  of  Baltimore.  In  the  autumn 
of  the  same  year  he  undertook  the  study  of  a  group 
of  massive  rocks  occurring  on  the  Hudson  river 
near  Peekskill,  N.  Y.,  to  which  his  attention  had 
been  called  by  Prof.  James  D.  Dana.     The  first  re- 
91 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

suit  of  this  work  was  a  paper  on  the  "  Paramor- 
phosis  of  Pyroxene  to  Hornblende,"  setting  forth 
what  was  already  known  on  the  chemical  and 
physical  relations  between  these  two  minerals, 
and  emphasizing  the  opinion  suggested  by  J.  Leh- 
mann  that  the  change  might  be  due  to  simple 
pressure,  tending  to  rearrange  the  molecules  of 
pyroxene  in  a  more  stable  manner,  as  perhaps  in 
hornblende. 

In  the  spring  of  1885  he  published  an  abstract 
of  a  paper  read  by  him  some  months  before  on 
"  Dikes  of  Apparently  Eruptive  Granite  in  theNeigh- 
borhood  of  Baltimore/'  In  it  he  showed  very  clearly 
that  large  veins  of  coarse-grained  granite,  which 
traverse  the  crystalline  schists,  exhibit  all  the  char- 
acteristics of  eruptive  rocks,  whose  intrusion  was 
subsequent  to  the  metamorphism  of  the  containing 
rocks. 

About  the  same  time  he  described  some  in- 
stances of  the  alteration  of  pyroxene  directly  into 
compact  hornblende. 

The  conclusions  announced  in  the  preliminary 
notice  of  the  gabbros  and  associated  hornblende 
rocks  near  Baltimore  were  the  same  as  those  in- 
corporated in  the  complete  report  on  these  rocks, 
which  appeared  two  years  later  as  Bulletin  28  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey.  The  chief 
features  of  this  report,  beyond  the  description  of 
the  geological  occurrence  and  of  the  petrographical 
characters  of  the  rocks,  are  the  demonstrations  of 
92 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

the  genetic  relation  between  the  gabbro  and  diorite, 
and  of  the  probable  derivation  of  the  latter  from 
the  former  by  metamorphism.  The  chemical  and 
physical  relations  between  pyroxene  and  horn- 
blende are  again  discussed,  and  while  the  efficacy 
of  pressure  alone  is  considered  sufficient  to  bring 
about  this  alteration,  it  is  remarked  that  it  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  a  necessary  factor  in  all  cases, 
and  that  in  the  region  in  question  near  Baltimore 
evidences  of  pressure  are  not  directly  connected 
with  the  uralitization  of  the  pyroxene.  To  indicate 
that  his  suggestions  are  to  be  taken  as  speculation 
he  observes  in  conclusion  : 

"In  point  of  fact  we  know  at  present  almost 
nothing  of  what  determines  the  crystalline  form  of 
the  bisilicate  in  a  molten  magma,  and  still  less  do 
we  understand  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  sub- 
sequent alteration  of  one  form  into  the  other — a 
change  which  is  to  be  regarded  as  in  no  way  allied 
to  weathering  or  the  degeneration  of  a  rock,  but 
rather  as  a  transition  from  one  crystalline  state  to 
another  no  less  crystalline,  dependent  on  some 
change  in  physical  conditions."  There  simply  re- 
mains the  fact  that  the  change  has  taken  place  in 
numerous  instances. 

In  the  year  1884  appeared  J.  Lehmann's  great 
work  on  the  origin  of  the  crystalline  schists  ("  Ent- 
stehung  der  altkrystallinen  Schiefergesteine "), 
which  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the  mind 
and  ideas  of  Professor  Williams,  as  it  has  on  other 
93 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

petrologists.  He  eagerly  assimilated  its  ideas  and 
prepared  two  reviews  of  it  which  appeared  soon 
afterward.  Subsequently  he  received  a  suite  of 
specimens  from  Professor  Lehmann,  illustrating 
his  work,  which  convinced  him  of  the  correctness 
of  his  conclusions,  and  of  the  probable  derivation 
of  many  crystalline  schists  from  originally  massive, 
igneous  rocks,  by  processes  of  metamorphism,  one 
of  the  chief  factors  of  which  may  have  been  dy- 
namic forces. 

In  1885  Professor  Williams  became  associate 
professor  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and  es- 
tablished a  laboratory  for  petrographical  work,  the 
importance  of  which  as  a  factor  in  geological  sci- 
ence he  advocated  in  an  article  entitled  ' '  The  Mi- 
croscope in  Geology,"  printed  in  "Science"  for 
that  year.  In  this  he  briefly  sketches  what  has 
already  been  done,  chiefly  in  the  realm  of  igneous 
rocks,  and  indicates  that  the  great  future  of  this 
line  of  investigation  lies  in  unraveling  the  compli- 
cated changes  of  metamorphism. 

The  application  of  the  microscope  to  the  study 
of  geology  was  presented  again  the  next  year  in  a 
more  expanded  form  as  one  of  a  series  of  mono- 
graphs on  education,  published  by  D.  C.  Heath 
&  Co.,  entitled  "  Modern  Petrography/'  The  his- 
tory and  methods  of  petrographical  work  were 
sketched,  and  the  application  of  the  study  to  vari- 
ous phases  of  geology  was  noted,  and  a  bibliog- 
raphy relating  to  the  leading  books  on  the  subject 
94 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

was  appended.  During  these  years  and  those  that 
followed,  to  1 890,  he  was  contributing  reviews  and 
notices  of  American  geological  and  petrographical 
literature  to  the  "  Neues  Jahrbuch  fur  Mineralogie, 
etc.,"  in  all  some  sixty-eight  articles  ;  besides  keep- 
ing up  through  1885,  for  the ' '  American  Naturalist, " 
a  Summary  of  the  Progress  in  Mineralogy  and  Pet- 
rography in  that  year,  in  addition  to  which  he  pre- 
pared several  other  reviews  of  greater  length. 

The  results  of  his  study  of  the  massive  rocks 
near  Peekskill,  N.  Y.,  were  embodied  in  four  pa- 
pers published  in  the ' '  American  Journal  of  Science  " 
from  1886  to  1888.  These  rocks  constitute  the 
Cortlandt  series  and  include  peridotites,  norites, 
gabbros,  and  diorites.  Of  these  there  are  numer- 
ous varieties  which  grade  into  one  another  so  that 
they  "  present  an  admirable  example  of  what  are 
called  facies  of  a  geological  unit  mass/'  They 
were  not  necessarily  erupted  at  one  time,  but  were 
probably  produced  at  different  periods  during  an 
era  of  prolonged  volcanic  activity.  They  probably 
rose  through  several  vents,  and  solidified  at  a  con- 
siderable depth  below  the  surface,  being  brought 
to  light  by  erosion.  The  most  diverse  types  are 
peripheral  in  their  distribution. 

The  contact-metamorphism  produced  by  these 
intrusions  upon  the  surrounding  mica-schists  and 
limestone  was  also  described.  In  the  former  the 
intensity  of  the  metamorphism  is  directly  propor- 
tional to  the  nearness  of  the  schist  to  the  massive 

95 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

rocks.  And  at  the  contact  the  schistose  structure 
almost  wholly  disappears  and  the  rock  becomes 
hard  and  massive.  Numerous  contact  minerals 
have  been  developed,  the  list  of  which  contains 
eighteen  species. 

Among  his  contributions  to  purely  microscopi- 
cal petrography  were :  his  description  of  a  suite 
of  igneous  rocks,  collected  by  Professor].  C.  Branner 
on  the  island  of  Fernando  de  Noronha  ;  notes  on 
the  microscopical  character  of  rocks  from  the  Sud- 
bury  mining  district  in  Canada,  collected  by  Dr. 
Robert  Bell;  and  notes  on  some  eruptive  rocks 
from  Alaska,  collected  by  Professor  H.  F.  Reid  and 
Mr.  H.  P.  Gushing.  These  studies  were  necessar- 
ily limited  to  the  microscopical  investigation  of  thin 
sections,  and  were  supplemental  to  more  or  less 
satisfactory  descriptions  of  the  occurrences  of  the 
rocks  by  those  who  collected  them. 

The  importance  of  microscopical  investigation 
of  aphanitic  rocks  in  deciphering  their  true  char- 
acter and  origin  is  clearly  shown  by  Professor 
Williams'  study  of  the  serpentine  occurring  at 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  in  the  Onondaga  salt-group. 
This  rock  acquired  interest  from  the  writings 
of  Vanuxem  and  Sterry  Hunt,  who  ascribed 
its  formation  to  hydro-chemical  processes.  The 
microscopical  investigation  proved  that  the  struc- 
ture and  microscopic  characters  of  the  serpentine 
and  of  the  minerals  included  in  it  were  precisely 
analogous  to  those  of  serpentine  derived  from  the 
96 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

alteration  of  igneous  rocks  rich  in  olivine.  The 
presence  of  perovskite  was  determined.  Subse- 
quently excavations  for  city  improvements  uncov- 
ered the  body  of  rock  previously  covered,  and 
disclosed  its  actual  eruptive  character. 

Professor  Williams'  account  of  his  trip  in 
southern  and  western  Norway  in  company  with 
Professors  Rosenbusch,  Brogger,  Reusch,  and  Law- 
son  shows  his  keen  appreciation  of  the  phenom- 
ena of  metamorphism,  which  are  exhibited  in  that 
region  on  so  grand  a  scale,  and  which  have  been 
so  ably  described  by  the  Norwegian  geologists. 
The  observations  he  thus  had  the  opportunity  of 
making  on  contact-  and  regional  metamorphism 
proved  of  inestimable  value  to  him  in  his  subse- 
quent work. 

Among  his  contributions  to  the  terminology 
of  petrography  is  a  discussion  and  definition  of 
the  terms  poikilitic  and  micropoikilitic.  His  inter- 
est in  the  advancement  of  the  working  methods 
of  the  science  showed  itself  in  the  suggestions 
made  to  the  firm  of  Bausch  and  Lomb  of  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.,  regarding  the  manufacture  of  a  first- 
class  petrographical  microscope,  and  in  his  de- 
scription of  a  machine  for  cutting  and  grinding  rock 
sections. 

Accounts  of  the  geological  excursions  with  his 

students  across  the  western  part  of  Maryland  were 

published,  as  well  as  the  general  plan  of  field  work 

which  he  proposed  having  the  students  carry  on 

13  97 


HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

in  connection  with  their  University  duties.  This 
plan  contemplated  the  division  of  the  625  square 
miles  of  territory  embraced  within  the  published 
map  of  the  environs  of  Baltimore  into  areas  con- 
taining 25  square  miles  each,  and  the  allotment  of 
one  of  these  divisions  to  a  student  as  a  subject  for 
his  graduating  thesis.  This  plan  he  was  success- 
fully carrying  forward. 

In  addition  to  his  petrographical  work  Professor 
Williams  made  numerous  contributions  to  miner- 
alogy, partly  in  connection  with  his  studies  of 
rocks,  and  partly  on  independent  material.  The 
list  of  his  mineralogical  papers  includes  descriptions 
of  at  least  twenty  species.  The  descriptions  usu- 
ally embraced  their  crystallographic  and  chemical 
properties,  and  sometimes  their  associations  and 
origin.  Of  special  importance  were  his  discussions 
of  the  possibility  of  hemihedrism  in  the  monoclinic 
crystal  system,  with  special  reference  to  the  hemi- 
hedrism of  pyroxene  ;  and  of  the  proper  orienta- 
tion of  amphibole,  as  shown  by  a  comparison  of 
its  gliding  plane  with  that  commonly  met  with  in 
pyroxene.  The  full  list  of  his  writings  in  this  de- 
partment of  science  will  be  found  in  the  complete 
bibliography  of  his  publications  appended  to  this 
sketch. 

His  most  valuable  service  in  this  direction  was 
the  text-book  of  crystallography,  called  "Ele- 
ments of  Crystallography,"  which  he  published 
in  1890,  an  octavo  of  250  pages,  with  383  figures 
98 


HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

and  two  plates,  which  has  passed  into  its  third 
edition. 

In  this  work  the  subject  of  crystallography  is 
set  forth  in  a  clear,  simple  manner  upon  the  basis 
of  the  symmetry  of  the  crystal  forms,  and  without 
recourse  to  mathematics.  It  was  intended  to 
teach  the  relationships  of  the  forms  to  one  another 
in  the  simplest  and  at  the  same  time  most  logical 
manner.  At  the  time  when  it  was  written  it  rep- 
resented the  advanced  methods  of  treatment  then 
in  use  in  Germany.  The  more  recent  advancement 
in  crystallographic  conceptions  was  taking  strong 
hold  on  Professor  Williams  during  the  last  year 
of  his  life,  and  was  being  used  by  him  with  suc- 
cess in  his  course  of  instruction.  The  substance 
of  these  ideas  was  embodied  in  a  short  chapter 
introduced  into  the  third  edition  of  his  book.  In 
this,  as  in  all  of  his  other  work,  he  showed  his 
wonderful  ability  to  assimilate  all  that  was  new 
and  valuable,  and  his  readiness  to  move  forward 
in  the  front  ranks  of  all  co-workers  in  each  of 
the  departments  of  science  in  which  he  was 
engaged. 

In  July,  1890,  he  published  a  description  of  the 
non-feldspathic  rocks  of  Maryland,  intending  to 
follow  it  with  others  upon  their  various  modes  of 
alteration.  The  various  kinds  of  rocks  composed 
almost  wholly  of  pyroxene  without  olivine  are 
shown  to  pass  into  one  another  by  transitions, 
forming  a  connected  group.  He  proposed  to  con- 

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HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

fine  the  term  pyroxenite  to  the  non-feldspathic 
pyroxene  rocks  free  from  olivine  that  are  distinctly 
eruptive  in  origin.  And  he  suggested  websterite 
as  the  name  for  enstatite-diopside  rocks. 

By  the  end  of  this  year  he  prepared  a  paper  on 
the  petrography  and  structure  of  the  Piedmont 
plateau  of  Maryland,  in  which  he  described  the 
general  topography  of  the  region,  and  the  geo- 
logical structure  of  that  portion  of  the  State  lying 
between  the  mountains,  in  the  western  part,  and 
the  coastal  plain  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State, 
and  known  as  the  Piedmont  plateau.  In  this  work 
we  find  him  enlarging  the  scope  of  his  researches, 
and  passing  beyond  the  boundaries  of  mineralogy 
and  petrography  to  embrace  the  larger  problems 
of  dynamical  and  structural  geology.  However, 
the  character  of  the  paper  is  largely  petrographical, 
as  its  title  indicates. 

The  more  or  less  metamorphosed  rocks  of  the 
western  half  of  the  plateau  region,  and  the  highly 
metamorphosed  ones  of  the  eastern  half,  together 
with  the  igneous  rocks  connected  with  them,  were 
described  or  noted,  and  their  characters  considered 
with  reference  to  the  probable  origin  of  the  geo- 
logical structure  ;  the  general  conclusion  being  that 
the  eastern  area  is  composed  of  rocks  far  more  an- 
cient than  the  western.  These  were  the  floor  upon 
which  the  western  rocks  were  deposited.  At  the 
time  of  the  Appalachian  uplift  the  crystalline  floor 
underwent  a  final  folding  which  involved  the  over- 

100 


HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

lying  sediments,  which  were  metamorphosed  to 
some  extent.  The  precise  determination  of  the 
age  of  the  rocks,  and  the  elaboration  of  many  de- 
tails of  structure  and  petrography,  were  among  the 
problems  noted  for  future  investigation.  In  this 
work  he  had  the  assistance  of  his  students,  and  the 
financial  support  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey — a  combination  of  forces  which  proved 
of  mutual  advantage,  and  furnished  a  valuable 
foundation  for  the  class-room  and  laboratory  in- 
struction at  the  university. 

The  benefits  to  be  derived  from  such  coopera- 
tion, and  from  the  actual  field  experience,  which 
his  students  were  thus  able  to  carry  on  under  his 
guidance,  were  fully  appreciated  by  himself,  and 
formed  the  text  for  an  address  before  the  univer- 
sity in  February,  1892.  In  this  address  he  made 
an  able  plea  for  the  claims  of  geology  upon  the  in- 
terests of  the  people  of  the  State,  and  of  the  de- 
partment of  geology  upon  the  support  of  the  uni- 
versity. He  reviewed  the  history  of  geological 
investigations  within  the  State  of  Maryland,  and 
called  attention  to  the  exceptional  advantages  of- 
fered by  the  geological  structure  of  the  State  to  the 
student,  noting  its  scope  and  the  accessibility  of 
the  field.  He  spoke  of  what  was  being  done  to- 
ward mapping  the  country  and  toward  determin- 
ing the  character  of  the  rock  formations,  whose 
nature  bore  directly  upon  the  agricultural  interests 
of  the  State.  The  evident  connection  between 

101 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

geology  and  the  development  of  the  mineral  re- 
sources was  also  mentioned. 

A  general  review  of  the  geology  of  the  crystalline 
rocks  of  Baltimore  and  its  vicinity  was  prepared 
about  this  time  by  Professor  Williams  for  the 
Guide  Book  published  for  the  meeting  of  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  held  in  Baltimore 
in  February  of  that  year.  This  account  was  ac- 
companied by  a  geological  map  of  the  region  about 
Baltimore,  made  for  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey  by  Professor  Williams  and  Mr.  N.  H. 
Darton. 

A  revised  edition  of  this  map  was  published  in 
October  of  the  same  year  by  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Wil- 
liams, who  introduced  many  improvements  into 
the  system  of  coloration.  Having  become  inter- 
ested in  the  preparation  of  a  map  of  Maryland,  he 
investigated  the  history  of  map-making  in  the  State: 
and  with  the  assistance  of  the  Superintendent  of 
the  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Pro- 
fessor T.  C.  Mendenhall ;  the  chief  topographer 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  Mr.  Henry 
Gannet;  and  others,  he  prepared  an  exhaustive  ac- 
count of  topographic  maps  made  of  various  parts 
of  Maryland. 

His  explorations  with  his  students  at  times  led 
him  beyond  the  borders  of  the  State,  and  it  was 
upon  one  of  these  excursions  that  he  discovered 
igneous  rocks  whose  structure  and  habit  were 

102 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

such  as  to  suggest  their  being  surficial  volcanic 
lavas.  They  were  located  on  the  northern  border 
line,  at  South  Mountain,  in  Pennsylvania  and  Mary- 
land. Having  allotted  to  Miss  Florence  Bascom 
the  detailed  study  of  a  part  of  this  region,  he  under- 
took himself  its  general  exploration.  The  results 
of  this  study  were  so  important  that  he  published 
a  general  account  of  it  immediately,  before  the  more 
detailed  studies  were  completed.  It  showed  the 
existence  in  that  locality  of  volcanic  lavas  and  tuff- 
breccias  of  rhyolites  and  basalts  with  intrusive 
bodies  of  the  same  rocks,  which  are  pre-Cambrian 
in  age.  The  metamorphism  they  have  experienced 
has  not  been  sufficient  to  obliterate  their  general 
original  structure,  or  to  destroy  entirely  their  orig- 
inal minerals.  They  are  quite  the  same  as 
modern  lavas  of  similar  composition,  and  are  ex- 
actly analogous  to  volcanic  rocks  of  pre-Cambrian 
age  in  the  Lake  Superior  region  and  in  Great 
Britain.  The  importance  of  finding  ancient  vol- 
canic lavas  on  the  eastern  seabord  led  Professor 
Williams  to  look  into  the  possibility  of  other  simi- 
lar occurrences  in  this  part  of  the  continent. 

As  a  result  of  this  investigation,  made  partly  by 
the  study  of  published  accounts,  partly  by  personal 
correspondence,  and  to  some  extent  by  field  ob- 
servation, he  was  able  to  present  a  preliminary 
notice  of  the  distribution  of  ancient  volcanic  rocks 
along  the  eastern  border  of  North  America  at  the 
International  Geological  Congress  in  Chicago,  in 
103 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

August,  1 893 .  The  completed  paper  was  read  be- 
fore the  Geological  Society  of  America  at  its  Boston 
meeting  in  December  of  the  same  year,  and  was  pub- 
lished in  the  "Journal  of  Geology"  a  month  later. 
This  is  the  last  of  his  more  important  publications. 
It  commences  with  a  historical  review  of  opinions 
on  ancient  volcanic  rocks  in  foreign  lands  as  well 
as  in  this,  which  is  treated  with  his  characteristic 
thoroughness.  He  then  discusses  the  criteria  for 
the  recognition  of  ancient  volcanic  rocks,  setting 
them  forth  in  a  clear  and  systematic  manner.  He 
defines  volcanic  rocks  as  "igneous  or  pyroclastic 
material  which  has  solidified  or  been  deposited  at, 
or  very  near,  the  earth's  surface/' 

In  describing  the  distribution  of  these  rocks  in 
Canada  he  cites  numerous  statements  of  Canadian 
geologists  as  to  the  occurrence  of  volcanic  rocksin 
the  ancient  terranes  of  that  region .  And  the  greater 
part  of  all  of  the  known  occurrences  fall  within  the 
boundaries  of  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Newfound- 
land. Within  the  United  States  much  less  is  known 
of  these  rocks,  and  inferences  were  drawn  from 
the  descriptions  of  those  who  have  studied  the 
metamorphosed  rocks  of  New  England  and  of  the 
Middle  Atlantic  and  Southern  States .  Occurrences 
are  definitely  known  in  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Car- 
olina. Probable  occurrences  are  indicated  in  Maine, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia. 

104 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

Professor  Williams  considered  it  the  purpose  of 
this  communication  to  direct  attention  to  these 
occurrences  of  ancient  volcanic  rocks,  and  to  excite 
interest  in  their  further  investigation.  It  is  one 
of  the  many  regrets  we  must  all  feel  that  he  was 
not  himself  permitted  to  carry  forward  this  impor- 
tant line  of  investigation.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  petrographers  of  the  eastern  States  will  prose- 
cute this  work  in  their  several  fields  with  the  en- 
ergy and  enthusiasm  Professor  Williams  would 
have  instilled  into  it. 

In  connection  with  other  members  of  the  faculty 
of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Professor  Williams 
prepared  a  book  on  the  "Natural  Features,  Re- 
sources, and  Institutions  of  the  State  of  Maryland," 
at  the  request  of  the  Board  of  World's  Fair  Man- 
agers of  that  State.  His  own  portion  of  the  work 
embraced  the  editing  of  a  new  geological  map  of 
the  State  based  upon  work  done  by  himself  and 
other  members  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  and  a  general  sketch  of  the  topography 
and  geology  of  the  State,  with  an  account  of  the 
mines  and  mineral  industries. 

The  map  is  conspicuous  for  its  clearness  and 
artistic  coloring,  and  has  earned  merited  praise 
from  those  best  able  to  judge.  The  text  is  well 
illustrated  with  views  of  topographical  features  and 
characteristic  rock  exposures.  Valuable  descrip- 
tions of  the  topographic  and  climatic  features  of  the 
State  were  contributed  by  Professor  W.  B.  Clark. 
M  105 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

The  arrangement  of  facts  and  the  clearness  and 
manner  of  expression  of  that  portion  of  the  book 
specially  relating  to  the  geology  and  physical  fea- 
tures, which  was  issued  subsequently  as  a  separate 
publication,  elicited  the  admiration  of  Professor 
Williams'  colleagues  at  home  and  abroad,  one  of 
whom  has  characterized  it  as  "  a  new  publication 
which  can  be  presented  as  a  model  to  students," 
an  expression  that  has  been  taken  from  the  private 
correspondence  of  one  of  the  ablest  European  geol- 
ogists of  the  present  day. 

His  last  writings  were  in  connection  with  the 
preparation  of  the  "Standard  Dictionary/'  to  which 
he  contributed  mineralogical  and  petrographical 
definitions,  and  also  in  connection  with  the  revision 
of  Johnson's  "Universal  Cyclopaedia." 

Professor  Williams'  most  valuable  publication 
in  petrography  is  his  paper  on  "  The  Greenstone- 
Schist  Areas  of  the  Menominee  and  Marquette  Re- 
gions of  Michigan,"  which,  as  he  intended  it,  is 
indeed  "  A  Contribution  to  the  Subject  of  Dynamic 
Metamorphism  in  Eruptive  Rocks."  The  field 
studies  were  made  in  the  summers  of  1885  and 
1 886,  and  the  report  was  transmitted  for  publica- 
tion in  February,  1888. 

The  report  is  valuable  not  only  for  the  new  ma- 
terial and  the  demonstrations  of  metamorphism 
contained  in  it,  but  almost  as  much  for  the  thor- 
ough presentation  of  the  work  already  done  by 
others  in  this  direction.  It  illustrated  most  per- 
106 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

fectly  Professor  Williams'  prominent  characteris- 
tics as  a  student  and  teacher :  his  ample  informa- 
tion regarding  what  has  already  been  accomplished 
by  others,  his  own  painstaking  and  conscientious 
investigation  of  the  material  in  hand,  and  his  sys- 
tematic treatment  of  the  observations  in  order 
to  demonstrate  the  conclusions  he  had  himself 
reached. 

The  chapter  setting  forth  the  present  state  of 
knowledge  regarding  the  metamorphism  of  igneous 
rocks  is  masterful,  and,  though  limited  to  thirty 
pages,  contains  166  references.  In  the  introduc- 
tory paragraphs  upon  the  value  of  microscopical 
work  in  the  study  of  metamorphism  we  find  some 
of  his  ideas  expressed  in  so  clear  a  manner  that 
they  may  well  be  repeated  here,  in  order  to  furnish 
an  insight  into  the  processes  of  his  mind,  and  to 
show  the  principles  that  guided  his  work  and 
formed  the  inspiration  of  his  hopes. 

The  mission  of  microscopical  petrography  is  set 
forth  in  the  following  words  : 

"The  recent  multiplication  of  refined  methods 
for  the  investigation  of  crystalline  rocks,  however, 
has  opened  an  almost  new  field  of  geological  in- 
quiry. The  difficult  and  obscure  problems  here 
presented  may  now  be  attacked  by  truly  scientific 
methods.  The  prophecies  which  Hermann  Vogel- 
sang made  in  1867  for  the  new  departure  in  geol- 
ogy have  been  more  than  realized  within  the  last 
twenty  years.  The  almost  new  science  of  petrog- 
107 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

raphy  may  be  said  to  have  proved  itself  capable 
of  rendering,  in  the  study  of  the  crystalline  rocks, 
a  service  equal  to  that  which  paleontology  has  al- 
ready given  in  the  deciphering  and  correlating  of 
the  fossiliferous  strata/' 

Comparing  the  study  of  unaltered  rocks  with 
that  of  metamorphosed  ones  he  says  : 

' '  But  if  petrography  were  able  to  solve  satisfac- 
torily all  the  problems  presented  by  the  unaltered 
massive  rocks,  it  would  even  then  be  prepared 
only  to  commence  its  most  difficult  and  most  im- 
portant mission.  Rocks  are  in  reality  far  from 
being  the  dead,  inert,  stationary  masses  which 
they  appear  to  the  ordinary  observer.  The  fasci- 
nating study  of  chemical  geology,  especially  when 
aided  by  the  microscope,  shows  them  to  be  in  a 
state  of  almost  constant  change.  It  is  true  that 
some  of  the  oldest  rocks  seem  to  have  suffered 
hardly  any  alteration  since  they  were  first  formed, 
but  most  of  them  are  ever  active  laboratories 
where  old  products  are  being  pulled  to  pieces  and 
new  ones  built  up.  The  tracing  out  of  such 
changes  is  an  important  aim  of  petrography  in  its 
present  stage/' 

In  his  endeavor  to  emphasize  the  widespread 
occurrence  of  metamorphism  and  the  tendency  of 
many  minerals  to  alter  their  form  and  composition 
with  changes  in  their  surrounding  physical  condi- 
tion, he  has  perhaps  overdrawn  the  case,  since  the 
permanence  of  many  rocks  and  minerals  through 

108 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

countless  ages  and  under  conditions  that  must  have 
varied  considerably  is  one  of  the  most  notable  facts 
of  petrology,  which  he  himself  would  have  been 
the  readiest  to  acknowledge.  The  extreme  empha- 
sis—  laid  upon  the  mutability  of  rocks  and  min- 
erals, which  he  expressed  by  likening  the  equipoise 
between  the  various  chemical  compounds  in  the 
earth's  crust,  and  the  surrounding  physical  condi- 
tions under  which  they  exist,  to  the  delicate  poise 
between  the  movement  of  a  gas  bubble  within  the 
liquid  inclusion  of  a  quartz  crystal  and  the  oscilla- 
tions of  temperature  that  constantly  pass  through 
it, —  is  one  of  the  very  few  instances  in  which  we 
recognize  his  enthusiasm  in  the  place  of  his  more 
careful  judgment.  In  almost  every  instance  we 
find  him  carefully  weighing  evidence  and  cau- 
tiously expressing  conclusions.  To  one  of  his  tem- 
perament the  temptation  to  use  strong  expressions 
and  forcible  similes  must  have  been  constantly  pre- 
senting itself,  and  we  must  admire  the  self  control 
that  kept  the  buoyancy  of  his  spirit  in  the  back- 
ground of  his  scientific  writings. 

Indeed  no  better  evidence  of  his  appreciation  of 
the  necessity  of  caution  in  prosecuting  the  work  of 
unraveling  the  intricacies  of  metamorphic  rocks 
could  be  asked  for  than  his  expressions  that  almost 
immediately  follow  the  comparison  just  noted. 
He  says: 

"  In  working  in  Archaean  geology  the  only  safe 
method  is  to  free  the  mind  completely  from  all 
109 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

traditions  and  theories — to  start  with  the  idea  that 
almost  nothing  is  known  with  certainty,  and  that 
everything  is  to  be  discovered.  The  facts  must  be 
most  critically  observed  and  considered,  without 
too  great  a  tendency  to  use  them  at  once  for  the 
deduction  of  general  principles.  Only  such  con- 
clusions as  cannot  be  doubted  by  any  one  who 
will  take  the  pains  to  examine  the  facts  are  of  real 
value  to  the  advance  of  Archaean  geology ;  and 
every  careful  student  in  the  field  must  realize  how 
slow  and  difficult  such  an  advance  must  be.  De- 
tailed analyses  of  the  workings  of  some  well  rec- 
ognized agency,  made  where  the  action  has  been 
as  little  as  possible  disguised  and  complicated  by 
the  action  of  other  agencies,  must  yield  valuable 
assistance  in  the  penetration  of  the  mysteries  which 
now  everywhere  surround  the  pre-fossiliferous  for- 
mations of  the  earth's  crust." 

The  historical  sketch  of  work  previously  done,  as 
already  said,  is  a  most  valuable  contribution  in  it- 
self, bringing  together  and  summing  up  the  scat- 
tered writings  of  many  investigators  in  a  manner 
to  render  them  accessible  to  those  less  conversant 
with  the  literature,  and  foreshadowing,  as  it  did, 
the  preparation  of  a  text  book  on  metamorphism 
which  he  was  subsequently  induced  to  undertake, 
and  toward  the  completion  of  which  we  had  looked 
eagerly  forward.  His  habits  of  careful  reading  and 
his  fortunate  ability  to  grasp  the  essential  parts  and 
retain  them  rendered  him  peculiarly  fitted  to  carry 
no 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

on  such  a  work.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  material 
he  had  already  gathered  and  had  systematically  ar- 
ranged may  form  the  basis  upon  which  such  a 
text  book  may  yet  be  constructed. 

The  main  portion  of  the  monograph  consists  of 
the  detailed  account  of  the  evidence  obtained  by 
study  of  the  rocks  in  the  field,  and  by  their  micro- 
scopical and  chemical  investigation  ;  the  object  of 
the  study  being  a  correct  understanding  of  the  orig- 
inal character  of  the  rocks.  This  portion  of  the 
work  shows  his  methods  of  close  observation,  and 
of  constant  comparison  with  the  observations  of 
others.  And  while  the  purpose  of  this  part  is  the 
description  of  the  facts,  there  are  frequent  com- 
ments and  discussions  as  to  the  bearing  of  the 
phenomena  upon  the  hypotheses  of  the  origin  of 
the  rocks.  The  facts  recorded  are  full  of  interest, 
and  of  importance  for  the  solution  of  the  general 
problem  of  metamorphism. 

The  concluding  chapter  sums  up  the  evidence 
and  shows  that  field  evidence  and  microscopical 
evidence  agree  in  establishing  the  eruptive  char- 
acter of  the  original  rocks,  which  were  mostly  dia- 
bases, with  gabbro,  olivine-gabbro,  diabase-por- 
phyry and  melaphyre,  diorite,  diorite-porphyry 
and  tuffs,  besides  granite,  granite-porphyry,  and 
quartz-porphyry.  These  rocks  were  metamor- 
phosed into  greenstone  schists,  in  which  a  foliation 
or  schistose  structure  tends  to  make  them  resemble 
stratified  deposits.  The  forces  that  brought  about 
in 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

the  metamorphism,  so  far  as  it  affected  the  struc- 
ture, were  compression,  faulting,  and  crushing, 
and,  in  places,  stretching. 

After  noting  the  minerals  that  constituted  the 
erjjptive  rocks  in  their  original,  unaltered  condition, 
he  describes  the  effects  of  dynamic  action  on  each 
kind  of  mineral,  and  the  new  microstructure  pro- 
duced. Then  he  considers  the  chemical  metamor- 
phism they  have  undergone  and  the  minerals  re- 
sulting from  this  mode  of  transformation,  and  also 
those  produced  by  simple  weathering. 

The  paper  is  profusely  illustrated  by  figures 
drawn  by  himself,  and  by  nine  plates  of  colored 
figures  made  from  those  which  he  had  prepared  in 
color. 

That  Professor  Williams  fully  appreciated  the  im- 
portance of  petrographical  work  as  a  factor  in  the 
increasingly  complex  methods  by  which  the  geo- 
logical history  of  the  earth  is  being  unraveled,  is 
clearly  shown  in  his  address  before  the  Wor- 
cester Polytechnic  Institute,  in  June,  1888,  entitled 
' ' Some  Modern  Aspects  of  Geology."  In  it  he 
said : 

"The  recent  development  in  the  science  of  the 
earth  consists  of  the  return  to  the  work  begun  by 
its  earliest  pioneers.  The  old  petrographers  were 
right.  If  we  would  know  the  life-history  of  our 
planet,  we  must  learn  the  origin,  structural  rela- 
tions, and  composition  of  our  rocks.  We  must 
discover  the  forces  —  chemical  and  physical  — 

112 


HIS    PUBLICATIONS 

which  work  in  and  upon  them,  and  we  must  see 
bow  they  work. 

"  The  first  and  strongest  impetus  to  a  renewed 
study  of  the  rocks  themselves  was  given  by  the 
successful  application  of  the  microscope  to  this  end ; 
but  this  most  valuable  acquisition  has  by  no  means 
remained  alone  in  the  rapid  growth  of  modern 
petrography.  Other  appliances,  scarcely  less  use- 
ful in  rock  study,  followed  quickly  in  its  wake. 
Microchemical  analysis,  the  separating  funnel,  and, 
most  of  all,  the  furnace,  in  which  has  been  accom- 
plished the  perfect  synthesis  of  many  rocks,  have 
all  contributed,  along  with  the  microscope,  to  make 
the  methods  of  petrography  not  inferior  in  delicacy 
and  accuracy  to  those  of  any  other  science." 

Having  pointed  out  some  of  the  services  already 
rendered  by  microscopical  petrography  —  our 
knowledge  of  the  composition  and  origin  of  many 
rocks  —  he  noticed  more  particularly  the  evidences 
it  has  furnished  of  the  instability  of  the  mineral 
constituents  of  rocks  under  changing  conditions 
of  environment,  and  remarked  : 

"  It  is  a  question  how  far  the  popularly  received 
distinction  between  dead  and  living  matter  can  be 
made  amenable  to  strict  definition  as  long  as  we 
know  so  little  of  what  the  so-called  '  life  force '  is. 
As  far  as  we  can  judge  of  the  phenomena  pre- 
sented by  the  organic  and  mineral  worlds,  they 
differ  rather  in  degree  than  in  kind.  This  seems 
*5  113 


HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

like  a  bold  statement,  and  I  am  fully  aware  that  it 
would  be  totally  unwarranted  except  for  the  recent 
disclosures  of  the  microscope  in  geology. 

"The  chemistry  of  life  is  the  chemistry  of  car- 
bon ;  the  chemistry  of  the  rocks  is  the  chemistry 
of  silicon.  Both  are  closely  allied  elements,  with 
the  property  of  forming  extremely  complex  com- 
pounds, which  become  more  or  less  unstable  with 
a  variation  of  external  conditions.  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  regard  unceasing  change  as  a  sign  of  life, 
and  to  look  upon  the  rocks  as  unchanging,  and 
therefore  dead.  But  the  microscope  shows  that 
this  is  a  false  conception.  Not  only  do  the  compo- 
nent minerals  assume  a  form  as  directly  inherent 
in  their  nature  as  that  of  a  plant,  but  if  the  sur- 
rounding conditions  become  unfavorable,  they 
change  to  other  forms,  and  leave  written  in  the 
rocks  the  records  of  their  often  complicated  his- 
tories. The  only  difference  seems  to  be  in  the 
relative  slowness  of  the  action.  I  say  '  seems  to 
be/  because  I  am  by  no  means  convinced  of  the 
absolute  identity  of  the  two  processes/' 

"  There  is,  however,  nothing  among  the  recent 
disclosures  of  the  microcope  in  regard  to  rocks  as 
surprising  as  their  delicate  adjustment  to  their  en- 
vironment. We  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  the 
masses  of  our  mountains  as  the  very  type  of  what 
is  stationary  and  eternal ;  but  in  reality  they  are 
vast  chemical  laboratories  full  of  activity  and  con- 
114 


HIS   PUBLICATIONS 

stant  change.  With  every  alteration  of  external 
conditions  or  environment,  what  was  a  state  of 
stable  equilibrium  for  atoms  or  molecules  ceases 
to  be  so.  Old  unions  are  ever  being  broken  down 
and  new  ones  formed.  Life  in  our  planet,  like  life 
in  ourselves,  rests  fundamentally  on  chemical  ac- 
tion .  The  vital  fluid  circulates  unceasingly  through 
the  arteries  of  the  oceans  and  the  currents  of  the 
air ;  it  penetrates  the  rocks  through  the  finest  fis- 
sures and  invisible  cracks,  as  the  human  blood 
penetrates  the  tissues  between  artery  and  vein, 
producing,  with  the  help  of  heat  and  pressure,  like 
changes  in  the  histology  of  the  globe." 

But  with  so  strong  a  conviction  of  the  value  of 
microscopical  research,  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  its 
proper  relation  to  other  methods  of  geological  in- 
vestigation, for  in  a  subsequent  article,  in  which 
he  discussed  the  use  of  the  microscope  in  studying 
crystalline  schists,  we  find  the  following  very  defi- 
nite statement:  "The  writer  is  not  aware  that 
the  most  ardent  advocate  of  the  study  of  petrog- 
raphy (microscopical  or  otherwise)  considers  this 
branch  as  more  than  an  aid  to  geological  research. 
Divorced  from  field  observation  it  becomes  unre- 
liable and  trivial.  As  a  supplement  to  field-work 
it  is  most  serviceable."  .  .  .  "The  microscopical 
study  of  isolated  hand  specimens  as  mere  mineral 
aggregates  once  served  a  useful  purpose,  but  this 
stage  in  petrography  has  now  passed."  And  he 
considers  it  "the  acknowledged  duty  of  every  pet- 

"5 


HIS  PUBLICATIONS 

rologist  to  be  at  the  same  time  a  field-geologist, 
and  to  study  his  material  in  the  laboratory  in  the 
light  of  his  own  observations  in  the  field/' 

These  are  clearly  the  utterances  of  one  whose 
insight  into  the  nature  of  rocks  was  both  penetrat- 
ing and  profound,  whose  intellectual  horizon  was 
far  extended,  like  that  of  one  viewing  the  world 
from  an  eminence. 


116 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

From  Bibliograpbia  Hopkinensis 

GEO.  HUNTINGTON  WILLIAMS.  (Associate,  1883-85 ; 
Associate  Professor,  1885-92;  Professor  of  In- 
organic Geology,  1892 — 1894.) 

Glaukophangesteine    aus  Nord-Italien  :    (Neues  Jabrbucb  fur 

Min.,  etc.,  1882,  ii,  p.  202.) 
Die  Eruptivgesteine  der  Gegend  von  Tryberg  im  Schwarzwald. 

Inaugural  dissertation:   (Ib.,  Beilage-Bandii,  pp.  585-634, 

1883.) 
The  synthesis  of  minerals  and  rocks.     Review  of  Fouque  et 

Michel-Levy's   "  Synthese  des  mineraux  et  des  roches:  " 

(Am.  Cbem.JL,  v,  p.  127.) 
Relations  of  crystallography  to  chemistry :  (Am.  Cbem.  Jl., 

v,  p.  461.) 

Barite  crystals  from  De  Kalb,  N.  Y.:  (Univ.  Circ.,  29,  Marcb, 

1884,^.  61.) 
Preliminary  notice  of  the  gabbros  and  associated  hornblende 

rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  Baltimore:   (Ib.,  30,  April,  1884, 

P-  19-) 
Note  on  the  so-called  quartz-porphyry   of  Hollins  Station, 

north  of  Baltimore :  (Ib.,  32,  July,  1884,^.  131.) 
On  the  paramorphosis  of  pyroxene  to  hornblende  in  rocks: 

(Am.  JL  Sci.,  xxviii,  pp.  259-268,  October,  1884.) 
Notice  of  J.  Lehmann's  work  on  the  origin  of  the  crystalline 

schists:  (Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  xxxiii,  p.  405.) 

117 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Review  of  J.  Lehmann's  "Entstehungder  altkrystallinen  schie- 
fergesteine " :  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  ocxviii,  p.  392,  'November, 
1884.) 

Dykes  of  apparently  eruptive  granite  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Baltimore:  (Univ.  Circ.,  38,  March,  1885,  p.  65.) 

The  microscope  in  geology:  (Science,  v,  March,  1885.) 

Hornblende  aus  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y. ;  Amphibol-antho- 
phyllit  aus  der  gegend  von  Baltimore  j  Ueber  das  Vorkom- 
men  des  von  Cohen  als  "Hudsonit"  bezeichneten  Gesteins 
am  Hudson  Fluss:  (Neues  Jahrbuch  fur  Min.,  etc.,  1885, 
ii,  p.  175.) 

Cause  of  the  apparently  perfect  cleavage  in  American  sphene : 
(Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xxix,  pp.  486-490,  June,  1885.) 

A  summary  of  the  progress  in  mineralogy  and  petrography  in 
1885  :  (Reprinted  from  the  Am.  Naturalist  for  1885.) 

The  peridotites  of  the  "Cortlandt  Series"  near  Peekskill  on 
the  Hudson  River,  N.  Y. :  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xxxi,  pp.  26-41, 
January,  1886.) 

The  gabbros  and  associated  hornblende  rocks  occurring  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Baltimore,  Md.:  (Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey, No.  28,  Washington,  1886,  78  pp.  and  4  colored  plates.) 

Modern  petrography:  (Heath's  Monographs  on  Education,  No. 
i)  3SPP-,  Boston,  1886.) 

On  a  remarkable  crystal  of  pyrite  from  Baltimore  Co.,  Md.  : 
(Univ.  Circ.y  53,  November,  1886,  p.  30.) 

The  norites  of  the  "  Cortlandt  Series"  on  the  Hudson  River 
near  Peekskill,  N.  Y.:  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  3,  xxxiii,  pp.  135-144 
and  191-199,  Februarvand  March,  1887.) 

On  the  chemical  comf||Apn  of  the  orthoclase  in  the  Cort- 
landt norite :  (Ib.,  p.2Jf.) 

On  the  serpentine  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y. :  (Science,  ix,  p.  232, 
March  u,  1887.) 

iiS 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

On  the  serpentine  (peridotite)  occurring  in  the  Onondaga 
salt-group  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y. :  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xxxw,  pp. 
1 37-145 >  August,  1887.) 

Holocrystalline  granite  structure  in  eruptive  rocks  of  tertiary 
age.  (Review  of  Stelzner's  "  Beitrage  zur  Geologic  der 
Argentinischen  Republik".)  (Ib.,  xxxiii,  p.  315,  April, 
1887.) 

Notes  on  the  minerals  occurring  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bal- 
timore: (Baltimore)  1887,  18  pp.) 

Note  on  some  remarkable  crystals  of  pyroxene  from  Orange 
Co.,  N.  Y.  :  (Am.Jl.  Sci.,  xxxiv,  p.  275,  October,  1887.) 

Rutil  nach  Ilmenit  in  verandertem  Diabas.  Pleonast  (Hercy- 
nit)  in  Norit  vom  Hudson-Fluss.  Perowskit  in  Serpentin 
(Peridotit)  von  Syracuse,  N.  Y. :  (Neues  Jahrbuch  fur  Min., 
etc.,  1887,  ii,  pp.  236-267.) 

On  a  new  petrographical  microscope  of  American  manufac- 
ture: (Univ.  Circ.,62,p.  22,  January,  1888;  Am.Jl.  Set., 
xxxv,  p.  114,  February,  1888.) 

On  a  plan  proposed  for  future  work  upon  the  geological  map 
of  the  Baltimore  region:  (Univ.  Circ.,  59, p.  122,  August, 
1887.) 

Progress  of  the  work  on  the  Archaean  geology  of  Maryland : 
(Ib.,  No.  65,  p.  61,  April,  1888.) 

The  gabbros  and  diorites  of  the  "Cortlandt  Series"  on  the 
Hudson  River,  near  Peekskill,  N.  Y. :  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xxxv, 
pp.  438-448,  June,  1888.) 

The  contact-metamorphism  produced  in  the  adjoining  mica- 
schists  and  limestones  by  the  massive  rocks  of  the  "Cort- 
landt Series"  near  Peekskill,  N.  Y. :  (Ib.,  xxxm,  pp.  254- 
269,  plate  m,  October,  1888.) 

Geology  of  Fernando  de  Norhona.     Part  II.     Petrography: 
(Ib.,  xxxvii,pp.  178-189,  Marc}),  1889.) 
119 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

On  the  possibility  of  hemihedrism  in  the  monoclinic  crystal 
system,  with  especial  reference  to  the  hemihedrism  of  py- 
roxene: (Ib.,  xxxviii,  pp.  115-120,  August,  1889.) 

Contributions  to  the  mineralogy  of  Maryland:  (Univ.  Circ., 
1S>P-  98>  September,  1889.) 

Some  modern  aspects  of  geology :  (Popular  Science  Monthly, 
September,  1889.) 

Note  on  the  eruptive  origin  of  the  Syracuse  serpentine: 
(Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  Amer.,  i,  p.  533.) 

Geological  and  petrographical  observations  in  southern  and 
western  Norway :  (Ib.,  pp.  551-553.) 

Celestite  from  Mineral  Co.,  West  Virginia :  (Am.  Jl.  Set., 
xxxix,pp.  183-188,  March,  1890.) 

Same,  reprinted  in  German  in  Zeitscbr.  Kryst.  u.  Min.,  xviii, 
p.  I,  1890. 

On  the  hornblende  of  St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  its  glid- 
ing planes:  (Am.Jl.  Set.,  xxxix,pp.  342-358,  May,  1850.) 

The  non-feldspathic  intrusive  rocks  of  Maryland  and  the  course 
of  their  alteration.  First  paper:  The  original  rocks :  (Am. 
Geologist,  July,  1890,  vi,  £.35.) 

Elements  of  crystallography  for  students  of  chemistry,  phy- 
sics and  mineralogy :  (New  York,  H.  Holt  &  Co. ;  Svo, 
250  pp.,  383  figs,  and  2  plates.) 

The  greenstone-schist  areas  of  the  Menominee  and  Marquette 
regions  in  Michigan :  (Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  No.  62, 
241  pp.,  29  figs,  and  1 6  plates,  Washington,  1890.) 

The  silicified  glass-breccia  of  Vermilion  River,  Sudbury  dis- 
trict: (Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  Amer.,  ii,  p.  138.) 

The  petrography  and  structure  of  the  Piedmont  plateau  in 
Maryland:  (Ib.,  pp.  301-318.) 

Anglesite,  cerussite  and  sulphur  from  the  Mountain  View  lead 
mine,  near  Union  Bridge,  Carroll  Co.,  Md.:  (Univ.  Circ., 
87,  April,  1891.)  [Octavo,  reprint.] 

120 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Anatase  from  the  Arvon  slate  quarries,  Buckingham  Co.,  Va. : 
(Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xlii,  p.  431,  November,  1891.) 

Notes  on  the  microscopical  character  of  rocks  from  the  Sud- 
bury  mining  district,  Canada.  Appendix  I  to  Dr.  R.  Bell's 
paper  on  the  Sudbury  mining  district:  (Rep.  Geol.  and 
Nat.  Hist.  Survey  of  Canada,  1888-90,  F,  pp.  55-82.) 

Notes  on  some  eruptive  rocks  from  Alaska.  Appendix  to 
Prof.  F.  H.  Reid's  paper  on  the  Muir  glacier:  (Nat.  Geog. 
Mag.,  iv,  pp.  63-74.) 

Geological  excursion  by  University  students  across  the  Appa- 
lachians in  May,  1891:  (Univ.  Circ.,  94.,  December,  1891.) 

A  university  and  its  natural  environment:  Address  before  the 
Johns  Hopkins,  University:  (Ib.,  96,  March,  1892.) 

Crystals  of  metallic  cadmium:   (Am.  Chem.  JL,  xiv,  p.  274.) 

Geology  of  Baltimore  and  vicinity.  Parti.  Crystalline  rocks: 
(Guide-book  for  Am.  Inst.  Min.  Engineers,  Baltimore, 
February,  1892,  pp.  77-124.) 

Geological  map  of  Baltimore  and  vicinity:  (Published  by  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  G.  H.  Williams,  Editor,  October, 
1892.) 

The  volcanic  rocks  of  South  Mountain  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland:  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xliv,  pp.  482-496,  December, 
1892.)  [Reprinted  in  " Scientific  American,"  January  14, 
1893,  and  abstract  in  Univ.  Circ.,  103.] 

The  microscope  and  the  study  of  the  crystalline  schists: 

(Science,  January  6,  1893.) 
A  new  machine  for  cutting  and  grinding  thin  sections  of 

rocks  and  minerals:   (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xlv,  p.   102,  February, 

1893,  and  Univ.  Circ.,  103.) 
Maps  of  the  territory  included  within  the  State  of  Maryland, 

especially  the  vicinity  of  Baltimore:   (Univ.   Circ.,    103, 

February,  1893.) 

16 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

On  the  use  of  the  terms  poikilitic  and  micropoikilitic  in 
petrography:  (//.  of  Geol.,  i,  No.  2,  p.  176,  Feb.,  1893.) 

Piedmontite  in  the  acid  volcanic  rocks  of  South  Mountain, 
Pennsylvania:  (Am.  Jl.  Sci.,  xlvi,  p.  50,  July,  1893.) 

Crystalline  rocks  from  the  Andes :  (JL  of  Geology,  i,  No.  4, 
.£.411,1893).  Review. 

Sixty-eight  reviews  of  American  geological  and  petrographi- 
cal  literature,  published  in  the  Neues  Jahrbuch  fi'ir  Miner- 
alogie,  Geologic  undPalaeontologie,  between  1884  and  1890. 

The  Williams  family,  tracing  the  descendants  of  Thomas 
Williams,  of  Roxbury,  Mass.  :  (N.  Eng.  Hist,  and  Gen. 
Reg.,  1880.)  [Reprinted  for  private  distribution.] 

On  the  crystal  form  of  metallic  zinc :  (Am.  Chem.  JL,  xi, 
No.  4.)  [With  W.  M.  Burton.] 

Geology  and  mineral  resources  of  Maryland,  with  geological 
map:  (In  the  book  "Maryland,"  published  by  the  State 
Board  of  Managers  for  the  World's  Fair  Commission,  July, 
1893.)  [With  W.  B.  Clark.] 

Distribution  of  ancient  volcanic  rocks  along  the  eastern  bor- 
der of  North  America:  (//.  ofGeoL,  ii,  no.  i,  1894,  pp. 
1-51.) 

Mineral  and  petrographical  exhibits  at  Chicago:  (Am.  Geolo- 
gist, xiii,  May,  1894,  pp.  345-352.) 

Johann  David  Schoepf  and  his  contributions  to  North  Amer- 
ican geology  :  (Butt.  Geol.  Soc.  Am.,  5,  pp.  591-593,  1893.) 

On  the  natural  occurrence  of  Lapis  lazuli:  (Univ.  Circ.  \  14, 
pp.  ill,  112,  July,  1894.) 

Introduction  to  "The  Granites  of  Maryland,"  by  Charles  R. 
Keyes :  (Fifteenth  Ann.  Rep.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pp.  657- 
684.  1895.) 

Washington,  Frederick,  Patapsco  and  Gunpowder  atlas  sheets 
of  the  United  States:  (U.  S.  Geol.  Survey.}  [G.  H.  Will- 
iams and  others.] 

122 


A  TRIBUTE  FROM  GERMANY 

DR.  HEINRICH  ROSENBUSCH, 

Professor  in  Heidelberg  University. 

einem  2lfcenb  ber  groetten  Sfyrtlfjalfte  1880  fanb 
son  langerem  Slufentfyalte  in  3taften  fyeim* 
fetyrenb,  auf  meinem  @cfyreifotif$e  eine  SSifiten* 
larte,  beren  lifcerbrtnger  man  auf  fein  bringenbes  Srhtn* 
ben  trie  (Stunbe  nteiner  Sftiicltunft  (jafce  mitt^eilen  ntuj[en. 
©leic^  tarauf  trat  ein  tvotjlgejiatter,  fc^lanl  unb 
bauter  Sungltng  mit  nta'tdjenfyaft  anmut^tgen 
guten  Hefcen  3lugen,  in  mein  3itnmer  unb  bat  urn  Slufnatyme 
unter  bie  3<*fyl  meiner  (Skitter.  2)a^  »ar  ber  Stnfang  metner 
33e!anntf^aft  mit  George  Jpuntington  SBiniam^. 

2)er  $reig  wacferer  unb  ftrebfamer  3«ttgHnge,  in  ben  er 
etntrat,  beftanb  and  2B,  ®»  33ron>n  t>on 
Sopolitfi  ^araba  »on  £ofyo,  3.  2 
belp^ia,  ^)an^  Sloeber  »on  Sidjtenkrg,  bet  ^Berlin, 
tab  Defcbele  »on  ^>tlbe^^etm,  SSictor  (Mbfdjmi 
J^eobor  Sbert  »on  GtaffeL  Stwa^  frater  traten 
gran!  X).  2lbam$  au^  Sanaba,  Dr.  Sttfreb  Dfann  au«  ^)of, 
Sttfons  5Werian  au«  S3afel,  3.  @.  Ditter  aug  SamBribge, 
93^a(fv  gebor  J^at^eff  au^  @t  ^eter^burg,  30$*  Slug. 
5)eterfen  au«@c^le^n?ig^olftein, — ein  fa  oner  $ret$  aufftre- 
fcenber  2:alente.  9ltc^t  einer  unter  ifynen  ber  ntc^t  bie  junge 
$raft  gefpannt  ptte  nad^  $o$em  3tel*  @ie  atle  $akn  i^ren 

123 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 


Sftamen  efyren&oll  eingetragen  in  bie  Slnnaten  ber  SBijfen* 
fdjaft,  manege  mit  un&erganglicfyer  (Shrift, 

2Ber  feoflte  e$  bem  Setter  serbenten,  ber  fldj  gliictfidj 
t,  foldjen  (Scfyulern  tie  SBege  fyakn  toeifen  gu  biirfen  ! 
Hcfy  flub  nttr  tie  3<tf)*e  ber  2lrfceit  in  biefem  §ar* 
tnonifc^en  ^reife,  au^  bem  ein  fritter  Xob  nun  fc^on  brei 
ter  tiic^tigften  ^innjeggerufen  ^at  t  2llfon^  SD^etian,  ©eorge 
SSitliamg  imt>  Slo^ofitfl  ^paraba* 

(Scttt  gefeflig  fjeiteter  S^araltcr,  feine  frifc^e  Sugenb,  tie 
Dffenfyeit  unb  eypanflijc  2Bdrme  feiner  ^atur  marten  ©eorge 
Jp»  SBiUtamS  fofort  ^eimif^  unb  tvo^Igelitten  in  btefem 
$reife.  (Seine  gliicfli^e  SBegafwng,  Befonber^  bte  raf^e 
unb  mitfjelofe  5(uffajTitng  bes§  Se^rfloff^,  ba^  erfiaunlidje  ©e- 
bac^tnif  ,  tvelc^e^  benfelkn  tvoljlcjeorbnet  Betwa^rte,  bte  ©e* 
wanbt^eit  in  ber  SBermerttyung  ber  ermorBenen  ^enntntfj  bei 
feinen  Unterfu^ungen,  bie  ^lartyeit,  mit  welder  er  (Srlern= 
tea  unb  (Srforfdjteg  barjufletten  »ermoc^te,  fldjerten  i^m 
Beften  Srfolg*  S'Zac^  rajHog  eifriger  Se^rjeit  Beftanb  er  tm 
fe^ften  ©emefter  feine  ^romotiond  ^riifung  mit  bem  erften 
©rabe.  £)te  Sruptbgefteine  ber  ©egenb  »on  Slr^erg  im 
(5c^ttjargt»aib  n?aren  ba^  Sfjema  feiner  Inaugural 
tation» 

3;aft  brei  3^re  gemeinfamer  taglid^er  2lt6eit  unb 
flen  perfonli^en  $erfefyr$  in  3SerMnbung  mit  Srinnerungen, 
bie  feine  2llinlid)!eit  mit  einem  mir  tfjeuren  ©efd^iebenen 
,  fatten  mir  (George  ^p»  SBiniam^  litb  unb  n?ert^  Qt» 
t,  faft  n?ie  einen  eigenen  @o^n,  Wit  ftoljejtat  Jpoff* 
nungen  fa^  ify  ifyn  aBreifen  in  feine  Jpeimat^  2ht$geritfht 
mit  einem  rei^en  @(^a^  son  ^enntniffen  unb  Srfa^rungen, 
@rcur(lonen  unb  9leifen  tuo^lklannt  mit  ben  geolo* 
efi  unterfud^ten  unb  fetdjtigjien  ©ebieten  X)eutfc^Ianb0 
unb  3talien$,  ijorgugtic^  Bemanbert  in  ber  Ctteratur  unb 

124 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

roofyl  erfafjren  in  ben  2Sftetf)oben  feiner  SSMjfenfdjaft,  $on  ber 
9tatur  nut  feltenem  Sefyrtalent  befdjenft,  t»el$e3  er  in  ten 
Gtofloquien,  t)ie  ttrir  einen  2lfcenb  jeber  2Bo$e  afcfyielten, 
burdj  $ortrag  unb  £>i3cujfion  geiibt  fjatte,  trat  er  feine 
Sauffcafyn  an* 

£>a$  offene  (SmpfefylungSfcfyreifcen,  toeldjes  i^m  tie  -ftatur 
in  feiner  gangen  (Srfc^einung  mitgege^en  ^atte,  Bewd^rte  fldj 
au^  in  feiner  ^eimat^»  3<*me3  2)»  2)ana  mad^te  ben  jung* 
en  Sorfc^er  fogleic^  gu  feinem  ^Zitarbeiter  bei  ben  Unter* 
fitd)ungen  itBer  bie  Sortlanbt  Series,  unb  eine  ber  erflen 
^poc^f^ulen  feines  35aterlanbe^,  bie  3o^n^  ^poplin^  Untoer* 
fltp  in  Baltimore,  legte  ben  mineralogifdj*geoiogifdjen  Un* 
terric^t  ijertrauen^ijott  in  feine  £anbe, 

ft$  nt(^t  in  i^m  geirrt*  3n  bent  garten 
eine  feltene  5lrbeit^!raft»  2)ur(^  eine  rafdje 
golge  ijorjitgU^er  Driginalnnterfud^ungen  ft^mang  er  fldj  gn 
unbeftrittener  ^etrogra^ifd^er  Slutoritat  in  feiner  Jpeimat^ 
auf,  nnb  bie  3<4I  ^er  3iinger,  bie  er  fitr  feine  SCiffenfc^aft 
fcegeifterte  unb  finite,  muc^^  i?on  3ftfy*  gu  3<i^*  ^^  n?ar 
fiir  mic^  ein  %t fttag  jebesmal,  menn  ein  S3rief  in  feiner  flaren 
eteganten  ^panbfc^rtft  anfam,  fcericfytenb  itber  feine  Unter* 
fuc^ungen,  soft  warmer  S^^ube  itber  feine  Sfyatigfeit  aU 
Se^rer*  3«  rit^renber  £)anffcar!eit  unb  Siebe  gebac^te  er 
ber  gemeinfam  burdjlefcten  3a^re,  Heg  bent  friifjeren  Se^rer 
auc^  ferner  Styeilfyafcen  an  feiner  Arbeit,  aU  fa'$e  er  noc^ 
mit  i^m  im  §riebrid)gfcau  gu  Jpeibetberg,  unb  nafym  auc^ 
gelegentli^  ben  SBiberfpru^  of)ne  Unmut^  unb  SSerftim* 
mung  auf*  Unb  n>ie  er  gen?o^nt  tvar,  wa^renb  feineg  5luf* 
ent^alted  fyier  »on  ben  ©rcurjionen  fiir  bie  ©ammlung  be^ 
3nftitute^  ^anbjtutfe  mitgufcringen,  t>erga§  er  i^rer  auc^ 
nfdjt  in  Baltimore*  3tuc^  bafiir  fei  ifym  gebanlt ! 
2)ann  lam  bie  £tit  mo  er  jtcfy  ben  eignen  ^perb  griinbete 

125 


A  TRIBUTE    FROM    GERMANY 

unb  Setter  nwrbe.  @r  war  auf  be3  Sebens  ®ipfeln  ange* 
langt  2lu3  feinen  SBriefen  wefyte  e3  mid)  an  wie  eine  2tt* 
mogpljare  i?on  ©liicf  unb  £eben$freube,  unb  burd)  bie  Ueber* 
fenbung  ber  ^fyotograpfyieen  feiner  Sieben  mad)te  er  mid) 
ijeimifd)  in  feinem  £>aitfe.  Ob  cr  mo^l  fii^lte,  nrie  gliicftt^ 
biefe  treue  g^^unbf^aft  feinen  alten  Se^rer  ma^te ! 

3n  ben  ^erbftmonaten  1888  fotlte  e$  mtr  ijergonnt  fein 
@fanbina»ien  fernten  ju  lernen,  2B»  (S,  23r6gger,  Jp, 
JHeufc^  unb  2l»  (£»  Jornebo^n  woHten  mir  bie  freunblidjen 
Ce^rer  unb  gii^rer  fctn,  3$  bac^tc  e^  mir  fc^on,  in  biefem 
Sanbe  unb  unter  folcfyen  Su^rcrn  in  ©efetlfc^aft  waclerer 
©djiifer  gu  lernen  unb  bie  $robe  auf  manc^e^  (Jrem)jel  gu 
macfyen,  beffen  Sofung  ic^  glaubte  gefunben  gu  ^aben*  @o 
fc^rieb  id)  an  ©eorge  $.  SKtdiamd  unb  anbere,  ob  fie  mic^ 
begleiten  molten*  Sr  unb  ^penr^  (£ari?ifl  £e»i^  famen, 
biefer  mit  bem  ^eim  gu  einer  ^ranl^eit,  bie  ttjn  in  Snglanb 
|inraffte  e$e  ify  i^n  »ieberfa§, 

Unb  nun  !am  eine  3flei^e  glucflit^er  Sage,  bie  nrir  jufam* 
men  am  (£fyrtftiantafjorb,  bei  ^ragero  unb  in  £angefunb 
ijerlebten*  33rogger'^  unermiibUc^er  giifyreifer  unb  unfere 
unerfa'ttti^e  Sern*  unb  ©ammetbegiebe  puften  bie  @(^a^e 
ber  Srfa^rungen  unb  33eobac^tungen  ju  faft  erbriicfenber 
5uHe»  Unb  wie  nwrben  biefe  an  Arbeit  unb  ©enujj  fo 
reic^en  Xage  ijerfc^ont  burdj  ©eorge  SGiltiam^'  freunbltc^e 
33egleiterinnen,  feine  liebensroiirbige  grau  unb  @(^mefter ! 
2Bie  mitrgtenbie  t^euren  ^Danten,  tt>enn  fie  un^gelegentli^im 
S3oote  auf  ber  (Srcurfion  begleiteten,  in  ber  fyerrlidjen  Sanb* 
fc^aft  bad  feibftbereitete  Siftafyi  burd^  ben  Sleig  i^rer  Unter- 
^altung  unb  i^re  forgtit^e  (Mte,  2Bie  ^eimifc^  unb  freunb* 
Hdj  war  burdj  i^re  gef^madti?oHe  Slnorbung,  wenn  wir 
3lbenb^  ^eimfe^rten,  ba£  etma^  niic^terne  ©peifejimmer  in 
Bran  3ofynfon'3  Heinem  Jpotet  in  Sangefunb  geworben,  Sin 

126 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

l,  gu  fdjon  urn  lange  gu  bauern !  Die  Damen 
un3,  urn  iiber  (£fyriftiania  gu  @cfyiff  nadj  23ergen  gu  fasten/ 
tt>ol)in  nrir  burdj  Xelemarfen  unb  ben  £arbanger  Sjorb  ben 
2Beg  naljmen,  in  ©efellftfyaft  »on  5lnbrett)  (L  Sanjfon,  ber 
j!c^  in  ^ragero  gu  un^  gefettte* 

3n  ^Bergen  lief  fitr  ®eorge  SBiKiamd  bie  freie  Qtit  aK 
3^  fufyr  nac^  S^orben ;  i^n  tritg  ba^  @t^iff  nac^  Snglanb 
unb  guritdf  in  bie  ^peimat^»  3$  follte  i^n  ni^t  tuieberfe^n. 
<5edj£  3a^re  fpater  murbe  er  abfcerufen,  mitten  au^  ber  »ol* 
len  Srntearfceit  aU  Sorter  unb  £efyrer.  (Seine  2e^en^* 
curi?e  fottte  unfymmetrifd)  bleiben ;  fie  ^at  nut  einen  auf* 
ftetgenben  2trc, 

Sin  feiten  glMidjes  Seben  »ar  bag  feine*  3Cag  5^atur 
unb  9ftenfd)enlo03  einem  ©terbtid^en  fd^en!en  fann,  war  in 
Suite  it&er  i^n  ausgegojfen,  ober  er  Htte  e^  jtdj  ermorben  : 
Iraftige  ©efunb^eit,  2Bol)lgeftalt,  ^eiterer  @inn,  unermitb* 
li(^e  2lrfceit$freube,  SBo^lj^anb,  reit^e  33egabung,  f^m^a- 
tytftyed  ^^f^r  e^reni?olle  @tellung  in  ber  ©efellfc^aft,  bie 
5^eigung  5lller  bie  ifyn  lannten,  bie  gartlit^e  Siefce  uon  Sltern 
unb  (Sd^wefter,  ber  23efi£  einer  innigft  geliebten  $r&uf  eineg 
^offnung^ijollen  ^inbe^»  5lu(^  bas  le^te,  n?a^  ein  gittiged 
dkfd)t(f  gekn  fann,  ijl  fein  gemorben :  er  ^at  ben  SSerlujl 
feine^  biefer  ©iiter  erleBen  mujfen*  @ein  S'lame  iiberbau* 
ert  t$tt* 

SKir  fagen  ein  @tern  fei  untergegangen,  n?enn  er  in  an* 
bern  2a'ngen  leuc^tet, 

im  3uni  1895. 


127 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 


TRANSLATION. 

ONE  evening  in  the  latter  half  of  April,  1880,  on 
my  return  from  a  prolonged  stay  in  Italy,  I  found 
on  my  writing-table  a  visiting  card,  left  by  one 
who,  I  was  told,  had  compelled  them  by  his  press- 
ing inquiries  to  inform  him  of  the  hour  of  my  re- 
turn. Immediately  afterwards  a  well-formed  young 
man  entered  my  room,  slender  and  graceful  in 
build,  with  features  pleasing  as  a  maiden's,  and 
good,  endearing  eyes,  and  asked  to  be  enrolled 
among  the  number  of  my  scholars.  That  was 
the  beginning  of  my  acquaintance  with  George 
Huntington  Williams. 

The  circle  of  zealous  and  aspiring  young  men  he 
entered  consisted  of  W.  G.  Brown,  from  Knoxville, 
Tenn.,  Toyokitsi  Harada,  from  Tokyo,  J.  W.  Ed- 
wards, from  Philadelphia,  Hans  Roeder,  from  Lich- 
tenberg,  near  Berlin,  Dr.  Konrad  Oebbeke,  from 
Hildesheim,  Victor  Goldschmidt,  from  Mainz,  The- 
odor  Ebert,  from  Cassel.  Somewhat  later  the  num- 
ber was  augmented  by  Frank  D.  Adams,  from 
Canada,  Dr.  Alfred  Osann,  from  Hof,  AlfonsMerian, 
from  Basel,  J.  S.  Diller,  from  Cambridge,  Mass., 
Fedor  Tchihatcheff,  from  St.  Petersburg,  Joh.  Aug. 
Petersen,  from  Schleswig-Holstein — a  brilliant 
circle  of  ardent  and  talented  young  men.  Not 
one  among  them  who  failed  to  bend  his  powers 
towards  a  lofty  aim.  They  have  all  honorably  reg- 
128 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

istered  their  names  in  the  annals  of  Science,  many 
of  them  in  imperishable  characters. 

Who  would  blame  the  teacher  who  counts  him- 
self happy  in  having  been  permitted  to  point  out 
the  way  to  such  scholars?  Ineffaceable  is  the  re- 
membrance of  the  years  of  work  in  this  harmoni- 
ous circle,  out  of  which  an  early  death  summoned 
away  three  of  the  most  capable — Alfons  Merian, 
George  Williams,  and  Toyokitsi  Harada. 

His  affable  and  cheerful  character,  his  vivacious 
youth,  the  openness  and  expansive  warmth  of  his 
nature,  placed  G.  H.  Williams  at  once  on  an  intimate 
footing  in  this  circle  and  made  him  a  favorite.  His 
happy  endowments,  especially  his  quick  compre- 
hension of  the  material  of  instruction,  mastering 
it  as  though  without  effort,  the  astonishing  mem- 
ory which  retained  that  material  in  orderly  arrange- 
ment, the  skill  in  utilizing  his  acquired  knowledge 
for  his  investigations,  the  clearness  with  which  he 
was  able  to  present  what  he  had  learned  and  what 
he  had  investigated — these  all  guaranteed  him  the 
best  success.  After  having  absolved  his  academi- 
cal course  with  unabated  ardor,  he  passed  the  ex- 
aminations for  the  degree  of  Ph.  D.  during  his  sixth 
semester,  receiving  the  highest  grade.  The  Erup- 
tive Rocks  in  the  region  around  Tryberg  in  the 
Black  Forest  formed  the  theme  of  his  doctor's 
thesis. 

Nearly  three  years  of  mutual  daily  work  and  of 
intimate  personal  association,  joined  with  reminis- 
X7  129 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

cences  awakened  by  his  resemblance  to  a  departed 
loved  one,  had  made  George  H.  Williams  dear 
and  precious  to  me,  almost  like  an  own  son. 
With  proudest  hopes  I  saw  him  depart  for  his 
home.  Equipped  with  a  rich  treasure  of  know- 
ledge and  practical  experience,  made  familiar  by  his 
excursions  and  journeys  with  the  best-known  and 
most  important  regions  of  Germany  and  Italy, 
thoroughly  versed  in  the  literature  of  his  subject 
and  well  experienced  in  its  methods,  endowed  by 
nature  with  rare  talent  for  teaching,  which  he  had 
exercised  by  exposition  and  discussion  in  the  col- 
loquies held  by  us  one  evening  in  each  week  — 
thus  he  entered  upon  his  career. 

The  open  letter  of  recommendation  with  which 
nature  had  furnished  him  in  his  whole  appearance 
proved  its  efficiency  in  his  own  home  also.  James  D. 
Dana  made  the  young  investigator  at  once  his  co- 
worker  in  the  researches  in  the  Cortlandt  Series, 
and  one  of  the  foremost  Universities  of  his  native 
country,  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  Balti- 
more, placed  with  full  confidence  the  instruction 
in  Geology  and  Mineralogy  in  his  hands. 

This  confidence  was  not  misplaced.  In  his  deli- 
cate frame  dwelt  a  rare  activity.  Through  a  rapid 
succession  of  excellent  original  investigations  he 
rose  in  his  own  country  to  the  position  of  an 
unquestioned  authority  in  petrography,  and  the 
number  of  disciples  whom  he  inspired  for  his  sci- 
ence and  trained  in  it  grew  from  year  to  year. 
130 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

It  was  each  time  a  festival  for  me  when  a  letter  in 
his  clear  and  elegant  handwriting  arrived,  giving 
an  account  of  his  investigations  and  beaming  with 
pleasure  at  his  own  activity  as  teacher.  He  re- 
called with  touching  thankfulness  and  love  the 
years  passed  together,  and  allowed  his  former 
teacher  to  share  still  further  in  his  work,  as  though 
he  were  yet  sitting  with  him  in  the  Friedrichsbau 
at  Heidelberg ;  and  if,  at  times,  contradiction  came, 
he  received  it  also  without  ill-humor  or  offense. 
And  just  as  it  had  been  his  custom,  while  here, 
to  bring  home  specimens  for  the  Institute  from  his 
excursions,  so  too  he  did  not  fail  in  Baltimore  to 
remember  that  collection.  For  this  also  I  thank 
him. 

Then  came  the  time  when  he  founded  a  home 
for  himself  and  became  a  father.  He  had  gained 
the  heights  of  life.  An  atmosphere  of  happiness 
and  of  joy  in  life  seemed  to  breathe  upon  me  out  of 
his  letters,  and  the  arrival  of  the  photographs  of 
his  dear  ones  made  me  at  home  in  his  household. 
Did  he  feel,  I  wonder,  how  happy  this  faithful 
friendship  made  his  old  teacher  ! 

In  the  autumn  months  of  1888  it  was  to  be  my 
privilege  to  learn  to  know  Scandinavia.  W.  C. 
Brogger,  H.  Reusch,  and  A.  E.  Pornebohn  were 
minded  to  be  my  kind  teachers  and  guides.  In 
that  country  and  under  such  guidance,  in  the  soci- 
ety of  zealous  scholars,  I  anticipated  with  pleasure 
the  opportunity  of  study  and  of  bringing  to  the 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

test  many  a  problem  whose  solution  I  believed  I 
had  found.  And  so  I  wrote  to  George  H.  Williams 
and  others,  asking  whether  they  would  like  to  ac- 
company me.  He  and  Henry  Carvill  Lewis  came, 
the  latter  with  a  germ  of  disease  which  snatched 
him  away  in  England  before  I  saw  him  once  more. 
And  then  came  a  succession  of  happiest  days, 
which  we  passed  together  at  the  Christianiafjord, 
around  Kragero,  and  on  the  Langesund.  Brog- 
ger's  unwearied  zeal  as  guide,  and  our  insatiable 
desire  for  learning  and  collecting,  accumulated 
treasures  of  experience  and  observation  in  almost 
overwhelming  abundance.  And  how  were  these 
days — so  rich  in  work  and  enjoyment — made 
beautiful  by  George  Williams'  kind  companions, 
his  amiable  wife  and  sister  !  And  when  at  times 
they  accompanied  us  by  boat  on  the  excursions, 
how  the  dear  ladies  seasoned  our  improvised  meal 
amid  glorious  surroundings  by  the  charm  of  their 
conversation  and  their  solicitous  kindness  !  And 
when  we  returned  at  evening  to  Frau  Johnson's  lit- 
tle hotel  at  Langesund,  with  its  rather  prosaic  din- 
ing-room, how  cheerful  and  homelike  had  they 
made  it  all  by  their  tasteful  arrangements!  An 
idyl,  too  beautiful  to  continue  long.  The  ladies 
left  us  to  journey  to  Christiania  and  thence  by  ves- 
sel to  Bergen,  toward  which  place  we  bent  our 
steps  by  way  of  Telemarken  and  the  Hardanger 
Fjord,  with  Andrew  C.  Lawson  added  to  our 
company,  he  having  joined  us  at  Kragero. 
132 


A  TRIBUTE   FROM   GERMANY 

On  reaching  Bergen,  George  Williams'  leisure 
had  come  to  an  end.  I  proceeded  to  the  North ;  he 
returned  by  vessel  to  England  and  thence  home- 
ward. I  was  not  to  see  him  again.  Six  years 
later  he  was  called  away  from  the  midst  of  his  full 
harvest  labor  as  investigator  and  teacher.  His 
life's  curve  was  to  remain  unsymmetrical ;  it  has 
only  an  ascending  arc. 

His  was  a  singularly  happy  life.  What  nature 
and  our  human  lot  can  bestow  upon  a  mortal,  that 
had  been  poured  out  upon  him  in  abundance,  or  he 
had  won  it  for  himself:  sound  health,  grace  of 
form,  a  cheerful  mind,  untiring  joyousness  in 
work,  outward  prosperity,  rich  endowments,  a 
sympathetic  nature,  an  honorable  position  in  soci- 
ety, the  affection  of  all  who  knew  him,  the  tender 
love  of  parents  and  sisters,  the  possession  of  a  fer- 
vently loved  wife,  of  a  child  full  of  promise.  The 
utmost  also  that  a  benevolent  fate  can  give  be- 
came his  ;  he  did  not  have  to  experience  the  loss 
of  any  of  these  choice  possessions.  His  name 
outlasts  him.  We  say  a  star  has  set,  when  it 
shines  in  other  longitudes. 

HEIDELBERG,  June,  1895. 


133 


GEORGE  HUNTINGTON  WILLIAMS 

1856-1894 

BY  JOHN  MASON  CLARKE 

[From  The  American  Geologist,  Vol.  XV,  February,  1895.} 

Itaque  adolescentes  mihi  mori  sic  videntur,  ut  cum  aquae 
multitudine  flammae  vis  opprimitur. — CATO. 

IE  student  of  organic  nature,  busied  with 
the  various  forms  under  which  life  has 
manifested  itself,  frequently  meets  with 
phases  of  individual  growth,  among  the  living  or 
in  the  earth's  catacombs,  which  show  that  one 
creature  may  pass  through  its  developmental 
changes  more  rapidly  than  its  fellows,  spanning 
structural  chasms,  leaping  vales  and  scaling  heights 
which  others  of  its  race  must  plod  slowly  and  tra- 
verse with  weary  effort.  In  intellectual  growth  is 
the  faithful  parallel  of  such  physical  acceleration  of 
development  which  the  Greeks  idealized  in  their 
concept  of  Athene,  full-grown  and  accoutred  at 
her  marvelous  birth  ;  equipped  for  war,  not  robed 
for  peace. 

The  geniuses  of  science,    "  standing   on   the 
mountain-top  and  catching  the  first  rays  of  the 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

rising  sun,"  pregnant  with  new  views  of  nature, 
have  realized  that  the  path  to  success  must  be  hewn 
out  with  labor  demanding  the  utmost  of  their  equip- 
ment. Experience  has  written  nothing  more  in- 
delible than  that  for  the  loiterer,  the  dreamer,  the 
man  of  leisure,  there  is  no  niche  in  science. 

In  the  death  of  Professor  Williams,  who  was  a 
man  of  genius,  of  intellectual  prowess,  and  an  un- 
remitting laborer,  it  is  difficult  to  fully  apprehend 
the  loss  which  has  fallen  to  geological  science  in 
America.  As  the  aged  Cato  is  made  to  say,  this 
life  has  been  quenched,  not  permitted  to  burn  out. 
At  the  very  threshold  of  his  prime,  with  all  his 
powers  symmetrically  ripening,  and  in  the  promise 
of  a  future  glorious  to  himself  and  the  sciences  he 
loved,  he  is  stopped.  The  pang  is  such  as  rent 
the  heart  at  the  too  early  departure  of  Roland  D. 
Irving  and  H.  Carvill  Lewis. 

American  geology  is  now  called  to  mourn  not 
simply  because  one  of  its  workers  has  fallen  by  the 
way,  but  in  that  it  has  lost  that  rare  product  among 
its  devotees,  a  well-rounded  man  of  broad  culture, 
wide  interests,  and  generous  instincts,  an  investi- 
gator of  astuteness  and  notable  success,  a  teacher 
of  magnetic  fervor,  a  speaker  of  polished  fluency 
and  trenchant  aptness.  It  is  a  loss  we  could  ill  af- 
ford, for  which  there  seems  now  no  compensation, 
from  which  none  can  reap  a  benefit,  and  all  suffer 
only  bereavement.  The  key  to  the  mystery  is  in 
the  keeping  of  heaven. 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON    WILLIAMS 

Professor  Williams  died  of  typhoid  fever  on  the 
twelfth  of  July  last,  at  his  childhood's  home  in  Utica, 
N.  Y.  During  the  scorching  days  of  early  sum- 
mer, while  in  the  field  upon  the  Piedmont  plateau 
of  Maryland,  he  drank  freely  of  a  germ-poisoned 
well.  His  system,  tired  and  exhausted  by  the  la- 
bors of  the  academic  year,  gave  way  to  the  attack 
which  followed. 

He  was  born  at  Utica,  January  28,  1856,  and 
was,  hence,  in  his  thirty-ninth  year.  His  father, 
Robert  S.  Williams,  a  prominent  citizen  of  that 
city,  a  man  of  substantial  and  ennobling  tastes, 
surrounded  his  three  children,  of  whom  our  la- 
mented friend  was  the  eldest,  with  the  refining 
influence  of  such  interests,  coupled  with  sturdy 
virtues  drawn  from  a  long  line  of  Puritan  heritage. 
As  the  writer  knew  it  fifteen  years  ago,  it  was  a 
home  whence  emanated  only  inspirations  of  the 
good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true,  where  gentler 
influences  reigned  and  where  a  mighty  and  well- 
selected  library  cast  an  irresistible  charm. 

No  one  could  have  held  a  livelier  appreciation  of 
such  early  advantages  than  did  Williams  himself, 
and  while  he  accounted  the  lack  of  them  in  another 
no  fault  or  necessary  obstacle  to  success,  he  was 
quick  to  see  that  it  was  not  without  significance. 
Circumstances  which  would  have  left  many  another 
less  keenly  alive  to  the  need  of  an  active,  vigorous 
employment,  were  to  him  a  wholesome  stimulus 
toward  the  best  which  life  could  afford. 
136 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

He  was  of  a  fine  nervous  temperament,  which, 
if  it  prevented  a  high  degree  of  physical  robustness, 
nevertheless  infused  both  body  and  mind  with  ac- 
tivity. To  many  who  knew  him  well  it  was  a 
source  of  surprise  that  he  endured  so  sturdily  the 
often  arduous  strain  of  geological  field  work,  and 
that  it  ever  became  to  him  a  means  of  bodily  re- 
pair and  refreshment.  Yet  it  was  his  mind  that 
was  normally  and  by  nature  more  richly  endowed 
than  his  body. 

During  his  early  training  in  the  public  schools  of 
Utica,  terminating  with  his  graduation  from  the 
Utica  Free  Academy,  he  left  traces  all  along  of  the 
first  degree  of  excellence.  In  the  autumn  of  1874 
he  entered  Amherst  College.  Here  he  showed  the 
same  proficiency  in  all  lines  of  academic  work,  lov- 
ing and  excellent  in  the  languages  and  their  classics, 
stout  in  mathematics ;  the  two  essential  ingredi- 
ents of  the  first  half  of  such  a  course.  The  former 
kindled  a  flame  which  was  never  allowed  to  die, 
and  to  these  accomplishments  must  be  due  in  no 
small  degree  his  broader  and  more  delightful 
tastes. 

I  am  not  aware  that  Mr.  Williams  had  mani- 
fested any  especial  aptitude  for  natural  science  dur- 
ing his  boyhood ;  a  respect  in  which  he  was  like 
many  who  have  attained  eminence  as  investigators 
and  philosophers  in  this  field  of  knowledge.  The 
rigors  of  his  preliminary  training  and  earlier  col- 
lege course  may  have  afforded  no  opportunity  for 
is  I37 


GEORGE    HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

the  development  of  such  tastes,  and  the  scientific 
instinct  was  dormant  until  he  came  into  contact, 
in  his  junior  year,  with  that  devoted  teacher, 
Professor  B.  K.  Emerson. 

I  recall  his  enthusiastic  devotion  to  zoology  (a 
subject  which  at  that  time  came  within  the  scope 
of  Professor  Emerson's  work),  which  seemed  for 
him  a  door  opening  into  a  new  world  of  interest. 
And  when  he  touched  the  living  rock  and  had 
become  thoroughly  enamoured  of  geology,  his 
fondness  for  its  zoological  side  long  clung  to  him. 

Being  graduated  in  1 878,  a  portion  of  the  follow- 
ing year  was  spent  at  Amherst  in  post-graduate 
work.  Petrography  was  then  a  virtually  new 
science  in  this  country.  Zirkel,  of  Leipzig,  had 
aroused  an  interest  in  the  microscopical  study  of 
rock-masses  by  his  work  for  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  when  under  the  direction  of 
Clarence  King  (1876),  but  there  were  then  few 
American  students  in  Germany  imbibing  this  new 
knowledge,  and  as  few  at  home  to  whom  Zirkel's 
work  appealed.  In  1879  there  were  probably  not 
a  dozen  men  here  who  were  making  serious  ef- 
forts in  this  new  departure,  but  of  these  Professor 
Emerson,  alive  to  every  phase  of  his  science,  was 
one.  Mr.  Williams'  interest  was  enlisted  under 
these  influences,  and  he  was  led  to  seek,  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  well-springs  of  such  knowledge 
at  Gottingen  and  Heidelberg.  Meanwhile,  how- 
ever, he  returned  for  a  brief  period,  during  the 

138 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

spring  of  1879,  to  Utica,  and  taught  various  sci- 
ences in  the  academy  which  he  had  left  five  years 
before.  Though  in  this  capacity  but  for  two  or 
three  months,  he  infused  such  a  degree  of  enthusi- 
asm in  his  pupils  for  every  subject  he  touched 
upon  as  to  render  the  writer's  task  as  his  succes- 
sor a  difficult  one.  Emerson  had  graduated  at 
Gottingen  during  the  lifetime  of  that  versatile 
geologist,  von  Seebach,  and  to  Gottingen  he  natur- 
ally sent  his  pupil.  There  Ehrenberg,  thirty  years 
before,  had  turned  the  microscope  upon  the  rocks, 
searching  for  their  minutest  organisms  ;  von  Wal- 
tershausen  had  done  his  immortal  work  on  vol- 
canoes, and  Klein,  now  of  Berlin  and  the  foremost 
of  physical  mineralogists,  was  then  lecturing. 

Here  during  the  winter  semester  of  1879-80 
Williams  heard  these  lectures  by  Klein  and  those 
by  Hubner  in  chemistry.  The  next  year  he  changed 
to  Heidelberg,  where  was  and  is  Rosenbusch,  a 
name  which  increasing  numbers  of  Americans  de- 
light to  honor,  and  there  was  begun  a  friendship 
between  instructor  and  pupil  which  death  alone 
could  interrupt.  After  two  years  of  work,  prin- 
cipally with  this  inspiring  man,  he  went  up  for 
his  examination  in  November,  1882,  achieving  his 
degree  with  honor. 

Upon  too  many  of  the  young  Americans  who 
throng  the  German  universities  the  glamour  of  the 
doctorate  exerts  a  palpably  unwholesome  influ- 
ence. The  title  here  passes  for  more  than  its  face 

139 


GEORGE    HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

value,  and,  unhappily,  it  matters  little  whence  it 
comes.  When  a  well-directed  public  sentiment 
shall  have  restored  to  its  proper  dignity  the  now 
disordered  and  cheapened  title,  professor,  the  doc- 
torate may  resume  its  appropriate  subsidiary  place. 
With  Williams  the  attainment  of  this  degree  was 
but  the  terminating  incident  of  his  course,  and  the 
title  was  never  unduly  paraded. 

Returning  to  his  home  directly  upon  its  accom- 
plishment, he  found  himself  situated  as  many  others 
have  been,  with  abundant  opportunity  to  find 
something  to  do.  At  this  critical  period  in  the  life 
of  every  young  man,  when  the  first  serious  step 
in  his  career  has  to  be  taken,  Dr.  Williams  did  not 
find  his  way  laid  open  for  him  by  outside  influ- 
ences ;  the  writer  recalls  his  disappointment  at  the 
failure  of  an  attempt  to  connect  himself  with  the 
work  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Soon,  how- 
ever (March,  1883),  he  obtained  a  fellowship-by- 
courtesy  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  at  Bal- 
timore. It  was  not  such  a  position  as  a  young 
man  without  supplementary  resources  could  afford 
to  accept,  nor  was  it,  of  itself,  quite  to  the  level 
of  Dr.  Williams'  hopes.  Yet  it  was  to  prove  the 
stepping-stone  to  a  most  successful  career  in  that 
institution  ;  for  in  1884  he  was  advanced  to  the 
title  of  Associate,  becoming  thereby  a  member  of 
the  academic  staff;  in  1885  he  became  Associate 
Professor,  and  in  1892,  Ordinary  Professor  of  In- 
organic Geology. 

140 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

When  Dr.  Williams  entered  upon  his  work  at 
this  institution  there  had  been  no  department  of 
geology,  and  the  instruction  given  had  been  of  the 
most  desultory  sort,  a  little  in  mineralogy  and  lith- 
ology  having  been  attempted  in  connection  with 
the  department  of  chemistry.  Upon  him  devolved 
the  organization  of  the  department,  and  the  high 
efficiency  which  it  has  now  attained  is  due  almost 
solely  to  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  his  concep- 
tion of  what  such  a  department  in  such  a  univer- 
sity should  be.  He  was  quick  to  acknowledge  the 
warm  espousal  of  all  his  efforts  by  President  Gil- 
man.  The  output  of  his  academic  \vork  as  em- 
bodied in  his  students  has  stamped  a  value  upon 
it  which  cannot  now  be  estimated,  but  its  success 
in  the  eyes  of  those  who  were  watching  from 
positions  of  close  association  is  expressed  in  the 
memorial  minute  adopted  by  the  board  of  trustees 
and  the  academic  staff  of  the  University,  in  which 
they  bear  testimony  to  "  his  alert,  inquisitive  ob- 
servation ;  the  clear  judgment  and  sound  reasoning 
which  he  brought  to  the  interpretation  of  what  he 
saw;  his  excellent  power  of  statement,  whether 
with  voice  or  peji  ;  his  cultivated  appreciation  of 
literature;  the  energy,  hopefulness,  and  enthusi- 
asm which  he  carried  into  his  work  and  imparted 
to  his  associates ;  his  genuine  individual  interest 
in  his  students ;  the  friendliness  and  helpfulness  of 
his  relations  to  his  colleagues,  and  his  readiness  to 
cooperate  in  every  worthy  undertaking. " 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

He  who  trains  students  insures  his  own  immor- 
tality. The  young  geologists,  quick  with  the  in- 
spiration caught  from  intercourse  with  this  man, 
will  be  his  best  and  perpetual  memorial.  They 
are  not  many,  his  career  was  too  short ;  but 
through  them  his  elevating  ideas  and  clear  purposes 
for  his  science  will  not  be  lost. 

There  is  one  phase  of  his  career,  the  best  of  it, 
he  himself  would  have  said,  that  in  which  lay  the 
poetry  of  his  life,  which  must  not  be  overlooked. 
This  was  his  total  and  unreserved  devotion  to  his 
home.  It  is  the  more  fitting  to  mention  this  here 
as  many  of  the  readers  of  these  pages  have  shared 
the  hospitality  and  known  the  loveliness  of  that 
home.  It  was  a  spot  where  every  geological 
worker  was  welcomed,  whose  entire  resources 
were  at  the  command  of  the  scientific  comer ;  and, 
to  the  students,  the  point  where  they  came  into 
closest  touch  with  the  personality  of  the  teacher. 

It  is  not  possible  in  this  place  to  give  an  ex- 
tended analysis  of  Professor  Williams'  published 
work ;  that  may  be  reserved  for  another  occasion 
and  writer.  Here  its  results  and  conditions  are 
briefly  summarized. 

During  a  vacation  in  his  University  life  in  Hei- 
delberg Mr.  Williams  made  a  tour  of  southern  and 
southeastern  Europe,  bringing  back  with  him.  the 
materials  for  his  first  scientific  publication,  "  Glau- 
kophangesteine  aus  Norditalien , "  which  was  printed 
in  the  Neues  Jahrbuch  fur  Mineralogie  in  1882. 
142 


GEORGE   HUNT1NGTON   WILLIAMS 

This  was  followed  in  1883  by  his  inaugural  dis- 
sertation, published  in  the  same  journal,  on  the 
Eruptive  Rocks  of  the  Vicinity  of  Tryberg  in  the 
Black  Forest,  an  elaborate  investigation  which  eli- 
cited the  applause  of  geologists  best  able  to  ap- 
preciate it. 

The  work  of  a  geologist  is  preeminently  what 
his  environment  makes  it ;  hence  with  Dr.  Wil- 
liams' return  to  America  and  the  commencement 
of  his  work  at  Johns  Hopkins  University  his  atten- 
tion was  directed  to  geological  problems  presented 
by  the  region  about  him.  In  1884  ne  began  a 
series  of  papers  pertaining  to  the  petrography  of 
the  vicinity  of  Baltimore,  publishing  two  in  that 
year,  and  continuing  them  for  nearly  ten  years. 
Twenty  papers  and  maps  published  during  this 
period  may  be  regarded  as  pertaining  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  the  outcome  of  his  geographical  location. 
Many  of  the  briefer  of  these  papers  appeared  in 
the  University  Circulars,  a  mode  of  publication  in 
which  the  author  evinced  his  patriotism  for  his 
patron  institution,  even  at  the  risk  of  hiding  his 
work  from  a  great  part  of  the  interested  world. 

But  under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey,  with  which  he  became  connected 
soon  after  his  appointment  at  Johns  Hopkins,  he 
was  enabled  to  elaborate  his  results  in  detail,  pub- 
lishing in  1886  an  important  bulletin  (No.  28)  on 
the  Gabbros  and  Associated  Hornblende  Rocks  oc- 
curring in  the  neighborhood  of  Baltimore.  In  his 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON    WILLIAMS 

Guide  to  the  Crystalline  Rocks  of  Baltimore  and 
vicinity,  prepared  for  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  in  that  city  in  1892, 
the  geological  map  of  Baltimore  and  vicinity,  pub- 
lished by  the  University  in  1892,  the  Baltimore 
sheet  prepared  in  collaboration  with  Nelson  H. 
Darton,  for  the  Geologic  Atlas  of  the  United  States, 
Professor  Williams  was  enabled  to  summarize  the 
main  results  of  his  labors  in  that  region.  Immedi- 
ately connected  with  this  work  was  the  series  of 
highly  important  investigations  upon  the  volcanic 
rocks  of  the  South  Mountain,  published  in  1892 
and  1893,  which  demonstrated  the  existence  in 
that  region  of  eruptives  in  all  respects  like  those 
of  recent  origin. 

Another  valuable  series  of  papers  embraces  those 
which  pertain  to  the  petrography,  mineralogy,  and 
crystallography  of  his  native  State,  New  York,  the 
materials  for  which  were  largely  gathered  during 
the  intervals  of  his  academic  work.  We  find  four- 
teen of  these  extending  over  a  period  of  six  years 
(1884-1890),  among  the  more  important  of  which 
are  those  relating  to  the  petrography  and  contact- 
effects  in  Professor  Dana's  "  Cortlandt  Series/'  on 
the  lower  Hudson  ;  and  four  papers  on  the  serpen- 
tine dyke  at  Syracuse,  discovered  by  Vanuxem 
about  1840,  but  lost  sight  of  for  nearly  a  half- 
century  after. 

The  vacation  periods  of  1884  and  1885  were 
spent  in  northern  Michigan,  and  the  results  of  his 
144 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

work  there  were  expressed  in  an  exhaustive  trea- 
tise on  the  Greenstone-schist  areas  of  the  Menom- 
inee  and  Marquette  regions,  published  as  Bulletin 
No.  62  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey 
(1890).  Among  his  other  special  papers  we  find 
one  bearing  on  the  geology  of  the  island  of  Fer- 
nando de  Noronha,  two  on  the  rocks  of  the  Sud- 
bury  District,  Canada,  one  on  rocks  from  Alaska, 
and  another  on  the  crystallines  of  the  Andes. 

At  the  close  of  the  London  meeting  of  the  In- 
ternational Congress  of  Geologists,  in  1888,  Pro- 
fessor Williams  joined  his  instructor,  Rosenbusch, 
in  a  visit  to  the  crystalline  regions  of  Norway,  un- 
der the  guidance  of  Dr.  Hans  Reusch,  whose  in- 
vestigations upon  areal  metamorphism  have  made 
those  regions  famous.  Though  he  produced  but 
a  single  brief  paper  upon  the  results  of  this  trip, 
yet  its  effects  were  undoubtedly  far-reaching  upon 
his  subsequent  work. 

In  all  these  papers  his  writing  is  characterized 
by  its  lucidity  and  incisiveness,  its  freedom  from 
contentiousness,  and  its  generous  tolerance  of  ad- 
verse opinion.  There  was  nothing  bellicose  in  his 
composition,  and  he  never  penned  a  polemic. 

The  value  of  his  services  to  his  science  cannot 
be  estimated  alone  from  these  technical  papers  in 
his  special  field  of  activity.  He  brought  himself 
into  contact  with  the  intelligent  public  in  several 
general  expositions  of  the  broader  bearings  of  his 
interests,  such  as  his  two  articles  on  the  relation 
19  145 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

of  the  microscope  to  the  study  of  the  rocks,  pub- 
lished in  Science,  and  a  more  extended  presen- 
tation of  Some  Modern  Aspects  of  Geology,  in 
the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  And  of  wider  in- 
fluence as  well  as  of  standard  importance  is  his 
"  Modern  Petrography/'  published  in  1886,  as  the 
first  of  a  series  of  "  Monographs  on  Education/' 
issued  by  Heath,  of  Boston.  His  "Elements  of 
Crystallography"  (1890),  written  to  supply  the 
needs  of  his  own  pupils,  has  become  widely 
adopted  in  institutions  of  higher  education  in 
America,  and  is  understood  to  have  already  passed 
through  several  editions. 

His  mechanical  ingenuity  and  adeptness  were 
shown  in  his  design  for  the  petrographical  micro- 
scope constructed  by  the  Bausch-Lomb  company, 
and  which  has  long  been  hatched  upon  the  cover- 
page  of  this  journal ;  and  also  in  the  invention  of 
a  machine  for  cutting  and  grinding  thin  rock-sec- 
tions, of  which  the  motive  power  is  electricity. 
Of  this  useful  contrivance  he  published  a  descrip- 
tion in  the  American  Journal  of  Science  for  Feb- 
ruary, 1893. 

Even  to  this  young  man  the  honors  which  beau- 
tify and  crown  success  were  beginning  to  come. 
He  had  been  made  a  vice-president  of  the  Geologi- 
cal Society  of  America,  a  corresponding  member 
of  the  Geological  Society  of  London,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Mineralogical  Society  of  France.  Under 
the  auspices  of  the  Maryland  board  of  managers  of 
146 


GEORGE   HUNTINGTON   WILLIAMS 

the  World's  Fair  Commission  he  was  given  charge 
of  the  preparation  of  the  State  book,  and  in  con- 
junction with  his  associate,  Professor  W.  B.  Clark, 
prepared  the  geological  part  of  that  work.  Under 
similar  auspices  he  served  as  one  of  the  judges  of 
award  in  the  Department  of  Mines  and  Mining  at 
the  World's  Fair,  and  the  last  paper  but  one  pub- 
lished by  him  was  an  account  of  the  exhibits  in 
mineralogy  and  petrography,  which  appeared  in 
the  Geologist  for  May,  1894. 

Professor  Williams'  early  departure  has  termi- 
nated one  of  those  truest  lives  which  Dr.  Holmes 
characterized  as  like  a  rose-cut  diamond,  with 
many  facets  answering  to  the  many-planed  aspects 
of  the  world  about  it ;  its  influence  elevating,  its 
memory  sweet. 


IN  COMMEMORATION  OF 
GEORGE  HUNTINGTON  WILLIAMS 

Professor  of  Inorganic  Geology  in  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University. 

[The  death  of  Professor  Williams  occurred  at  the  home  of 
his  father,  Mr.  Robert  S.  Williams,  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  July 
12,  1894,  at  the  age  of  38  years.] 

*At  a  meeting  of  the  Officers  of  Government  and  In- 
struction in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and 
of  the  advanced  students  in  Geology,  held  at  the 
beginning  of  the  academic  year  t  October  13,  1894, 
the  following  minute  was  adopted : 

MINUTE 

IE  President  and  Trustees  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  the  members  of  the 
Academic  Staff  and  the  advanced  students 
in  the  department  of  Geology,  assembled  to  give 
expression  to  their  common  sorrow  at  the  death 
of  their  beloved  associate,  instructor,  and  friend, 
George  Huntington  Williams,  now  place  on  record 
their  appreciation  of  the  eminent  service  rendered, 
in  his  brief  career,  to  the  University,  and  to  the 
wider  interests  of  science,  through  his  work  as  a 
148 


IN   COMMEMORATION   OF   GEORGE   H.  WILLIAMS 

teacher  and  investigator ;  and  bear  testimony  to  the 
varied  and  admirable  intellectual  gifts,  and  the 
charming  personal  traits,  which  so  commended  him 
to  the  esteem  and  affection  of  those  who  knew 
him  that  they  cannot  cease  to  cherish  his  memory 
and  to  mourn  his  early  death. 

Becoming  connected  with  the  University  in 
1883,  a  young  and  untried  man,  he  displayed 
such  marked  powers  that  he  speedily  gathered 
around  him  a  body  of  attached  and  enthusiastic 
pupils,  and  through  his  inspiring  qualities  as  a 
teacher,  and  the  repute  acquired  by  his  scientific 
work,  he  was  able  to  organize  and  develop  a  de- 
partment of  instruction  which  has  been  highly  in- 
fluential and  useful.  The  loss  sustained  by  this 
institution  in  the  removal  of  an  officer  and  teacher 
of  his  high  intelligence,  his  wide  acquisitions,  and 
his  unique  personal  force,  cannot  be  measured  in 
words. 

It  is  a  melancholy  satisfaction  to  recall  at  this 
time  some  of  the  qualities  of  mind  and  of  char- 
acter which  were  so  conspicuous  in  him.  His 
alert,  inquisitive  observation  ;  the  clear  judgment 
and  sound  reasoning  which  he  brought  to  the  in- 
terpretation of  what  he  saw ;  his  excellent  power 
of  statement,  whether  with  voice  or  pen  ;  his  cul- 
tivated appreciation  of  literature ;  the  energy, 
hopefulness,  and  enthusiasm  which  he  carried 
into  his  work  and  imparted  to  his  associates  ;  his 
genuine  individual  interest  in  his  students;  the 
149 


IN   COMMEMORATION   OF  GEORGE   H.   WILLIAMS 

friendliness  and  helpfulness  of  his  relations  to  his 
colleagues  and  his  readiness  to  cooperate  in  every 
worthy  undertaking — these  marks  of  a  pure,  re- 
fined, generous,  and  highly  gifted  nature  were 
characteristic  of  him.  The  recollection  of  these 
delightful  traits  makes  more  keen  the  sense  of  loss. 
Yet  with  reverent  gratitude  must  it  be  accounted 
no  ordinary  privilege  to  hold  the  precious  memory 
of  his  active  mind,  his  joyous  nature,  and  his 
loving  heart. 

DANIEL  C.  OILMAN,  Chairman. 

WILLIAM  B.  CLARK,  Secretary. 

BALTIMORE,  MARYLAND,  October  13,  1894. 


150 


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